Bertha Van Hoosen (1863–1952)

Bertha Van Hoosen was born and grew up on her family farm in Stony Creek (present-day Rochester Hills), Michigan. She attended high school even though it meant she had to be driven to Pontiac by her father in a horse-drawn wagon every Monday morning and brought back home every Friday night. In 1880, she entered the University of Michigan, graduating in 1884 with a bachelor's degree. Over the objections of her parents, she went on to medical school at the university, paying her way by working as an obstetrical nurse, anatomy demonstrator, and teacher. She earned her medical degree in 1888 and completed three residencies, including one at the New England Hospital for Women and Children in Boston. She then moved to Chicago, Illinois, to set up her own medical practice, which she maintained for 60 years. She became a pioneer for women in medicine. She taught at the Women's Medical School at Northwestern University, and in 1902 became Professor of Clinical Gynecology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine despite opposition from male faculty. In 1913, Dr. Van Hoosen earned the highest score on the Civil Service Board examinations for gynecological staff at Cook County Hospital, and was appointed head of the Department of Obstetrics at Loyola University's medical school in 1918. This made her the first woman to head a medical division at a co-educational university in the USA. Dr. Van Hoosen's dedication to the advancement of women's health remained her focus throughout her life, and she worked tirelessly to try to obtain equal treatment of women in medicine. Her early experiences of discrimination as a woman doctor influenced her to found and become the first president of the American Medical Women's Association. She was a noted surgeon and was responsible for several innovations in her career. She wrote several books, including her autobiography, Petticoat Surgeon, published in 1947.