The first women in medicine.

A historical-social approach

Abstract

Overcoming the beliefs deeply rooted in culture and society, and the prejudices prevailing in scientific circles, at a time when man occupied all the spaces of power, was a barrier for all university professions, especially for medicine. On the arduous and lonely path to access the study and practice of medicine, the pioneers appealed to different strategies: the support of the few families and few sensitized doctors who defended the capacity of women to study and practice medicine. , special permits from the authorities to be able to carry out higher studies, transfer to other countries, and the publication of writings. Subsequently, women organized collectively, contributing to the promotion of women in medicine, nursing and science and influencing society, universities, associations, and governments. We studied the life stories of the first female medical graduates until 1940. Their lives were highlighted by a strong social commitment: the fight for equal conditions and women's rights; the suffrage, abolitionist, and prostitution eradication movements; the concern with the hygienic attitude and the most disadvantaged, and even the reforms of the penitentiary system. This work is a tribute to women with exciting life stories, who transcended, motivated by their vocation for service, purpose, and dedication to a greater cause in a historical era in which there was a profound rejection of the incorporation of women into the intellectual world.