A NOTED WOMAN DOCTOR

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVI, Issue 4800, 21 January 1925, Page 3

A NOTED WOMAN DOCTOR

ORGANISED SERVICE IN INDIA. FUTURE OF WOMEN IN MEDICINE. in reviewing the biography of Dr. Mary Scharlieb —"Reminiscences”—in "John o’ London’s Weekly,” Lord Riddell pasy a warm tribute to the work of this famous woman surgeon, and especially to the part she played in organising a service of women doctors for India. "It is difficult,” writes Lord Riddell, “to estimate the value and importance of this reform, of which Mrs. Schariieb was the pioneer, but one can dimly imagine the misery prevented and and the lives saved. Pundits are fond of discussing whether the spirit of the age produces the pioneer or whether, like the conjurer with the rabbit, the pioneer produces the spirit of the age- out of his top-nat. Luckily we are not called upon to decide this academic question. For us it suffices that Dr. Scharlieb was the pioneer. In 1887, owing to ill-health, she came home for good, and in the following year was the first woman to obtain the M.D. at the London University I have no space to describe her work since her return, beyond saying that after a hard struggle she secured a leading position in her special branch of the profession.” The future of women in medicine is also discussed by the writer, who states that there are 2000 on the medical register, but all do not practice. Those who do form oi.ly a small proportion of the forty-eight thousand doctors. The question is sometimes raised whether medical women are capable, physically and mentally, of competing with men on equal terms. This is a fruitless discussion. Medical women have proved their capacity for useful work, much of which they alone can perform. On the other hand, their activities are necessarily curtailed because the adult male population are attended almost exclusively by doctors of their own sex, and a large proportion of women prefer the services of medical men.

As might be expected, Dr. Scharlieb is optimistic.'about the future, believing there is ample scope not only in private practice but in public health work-both here and in India. She, however, wisely points out that character and personality are of equal importance with medical knowledge. Book work and ability to pass examinations are not sufficient. The treatment of the wick demands other qualifications.

In a nutshell, the future of medical women is an economic question. If the average woman can be reasonably certain of earning a fair income, having regard to the expenditure involved. there will be an ample supply. But if the prospects are unfavourable the profession wiil attract only women with exceptional gifts or those witn private means who merely require occupation. Nowadays women medical students have no lack of facilities. Elation, due to the success of a hard-fought battle, hais not been permitted to, obscure the necessity for persistent practical work. Instruction is provided at various* medical centres, and in particular the London School associated with the Royal Free Hospital possesses a brilliant teaching staff. The success of the school is largely due to Miss Aldrich-Blake, M.S., the Dean, and Miss Brooks, the Warden, who have managed its affairs with such ability that it celebrated its jubilee in October with four hundred students, as compared with thirtyfour in 1877.