By: Alejandra Rangel 10A
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Nowadays there are lots of women all around the world studying to become doctors, but this would not be a reality without lots of effort from great women who fought for an opportunity to become doctors when they couldn’t even vote. Here are the stories of three of the most amazing warriors who accomplished their dreams and became great examples of how skills do not come with the gender, and that everyone can do anything if they work hard to achieve it.
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On February 3rd we celebrate the “international woman’s doctor day” in honor of Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to ever receive a medical degree. She made several attempts to enter medical school but was rejected about 10 times for two main reasons; first of all, she was thought to be intellectually inferior because she was a woman, and secondly men were afraid she might actually prove equal to the task. Elizabeth was also a pioneer promoting the education of women in medicine during all her life.
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Ana Galvis was born in 1855 in Bogota, Colombia. Although there were woman doctors already working in the field around the world, she wasn’t accepted in any Colombian university. That’s why she applied to Berna University in Switzerland where she obtained her medical degree in July 1877; becoming the first Latin-American woman to be a doctor.
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In 1917, Ines Ochoa was born in Duitama, Colombia. Her dream was to become a doctor, but her family never supported her decision to be one. For Ines to pay her career, she had to work really hard and when she finally made it into medical school at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Ines was the only woman among 63 men. She was the first woman to receive a medical degree in Colombia.
These three women had to go through a lot of discrimination on the path to become doctors, but this was totally worth it because they’ve become role models not only for women who want to be doctors but also for every girl or woman that feels like her gender is an obstacle in the way of fulfilling her dreams. Despite all of the many female efforts, today equality in the medical scenario is not a reality. Lots of women get paid less than men who do the exact same job. Also, women’s capacities are being constantly questioned. It is really important to celebrate this day and remember all of these women’s efforts and their fight to accomplish their goals despite their gender.
Elizabeth Blackwell - https://www.biography.com/people/elizabeth-blackwell-9214198