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KEYWORDS Josephine Barnes / Gynaecologist / British Medical Association
In previous articles in this series, we have written about the great women pioneers who broke down the barriers which prohibited or limited their entry into the various branches of the healthcare professions and who then proved that they could compete, on equal terms, with their male counterparts. Included in the first among these, of course, was Florence Nightingale, who, in the Crimean war (1854-6) and afterwards introduced the 'modern' era of nursing training and put an end to the dirty, ignorant and often drunk women who had been delegated to look after the sick and injured in the hospital wards before her time.
Among the other shining stars were Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, who, in 1865, in the face of stubborn resistance from the establishment, was the first woman to qualify in medicine in this country, Eleanor Davies-Colley, surgeon and obstetrician, the first woman to pass the FRCS examination, in 1911 and Dame Agnes Hunt, herself a cripple, who laid the foundations of orthopaedic nursing and rehabilitation as we know them today.
As a shining example of what women can achieve in the health professions in more modern times, I have chosen the story of Josephine Barnes, who was well known, and greatly admired, by many doctors and nurses alive today - including this writer!
Alice Josephine Mary Taylor Barnes, to give her...