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Michigan Women Who Moved Medicine
In honor of March being Women’s History Month, the Michigan State Medical Society (MSMS) celebrates the contributions and achievements women have made in medicine. Three physicians with Michigan ties who were pioneers in the field are highlighted below.
Bertha Van Hoosen, MD, was born in Stony Creek, Michigan in 1863. Doctor Van Hoosen went on to receive her undergraduate and medical education at the University of Michigan. Doctor Van Hoosen had a successful career as a gynecologist, obstetrician, and surgeon in Chicago where she opened her own private practice, taught at various institutions, and served as an attending physician at several hospitals. Notably, in 1918 she become the first woman to head a medical division at a co-ed university as the head of obstetrics at Loyola University Medical School. As a woman, Doctor Van Hoosen faced discrimination all throughout her career and became outspoken on the issue. In 1915, she co-founded and was the first president of the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA). The AMWA was the first national organization of women physicians and continues its dedication to the advancement of women in medicine. Every year the AMWA honors a woman physician who has demonstrated exceptional leadership and service to the AMWA with the Bertha Van Hoosen Award.
Marjorie Peebles-Meyers, MD, started her medical education at Howard University in Washington, D.C. In 1940, she transferred to the Wayne State University School of Medicine and three years later made history as the first African-American woman to graduate from the medical school. Doctor Peebles-Meyers continued to make history after graduation and throughout her career. She was the first African-American woman accepted into the internship and residency program at Detroit Receiving Hospital, and upon completion of the program she became the first African-American woman to be appointed chief resident at the hospital. In 1947 she opened Detroit’s first interracial medical practice with Eugene Shafarman, M.D. After 30 years, Doctor Peebles-Meyers retired from private practice and was appointed to chief physician at Ford Motor Company where she served until 1985.
MSMS salutes women physicians of the past, present, and future for their commitment to the practice of medicine, delivery of compassionate and quality care, and advocacy on behalf of their patients.