{"id":124528,"date":"2024-05-20T15:26:45","date_gmt":"2024-05-20T20:26:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=124528"},"modified":"2024-05-21T21:46:59","modified_gmt":"2024-05-22T02:46:59","slug":"doctor-curmudgeon-if-she-were-writing-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=124528","title":{"rendered":"Doctor Curmudgeon\u00ae If She Were Writing Now"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1545664804358300\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block; text-align: center;\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1545664804358300\" data-ad-slot=\"8616314829\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=124528\" rel=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=124528\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-124529 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/download-13-300x180.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"180\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/download-13-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/download-13.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>By Diane Batshaw Eisman, M.D. FAAP Doctor Eisman is in Family Practice in Aventura, Florida with her partner, Dr. Eugene Eisman, an internist\/cardiologist<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Once upon a time, in 1849 Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman in the United States to be allowed to have an MD degree.<br \/>\nOf course, it wasn\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n<p>My predecessor has been in my thoughts, and I wonder what she would say today.<\/p>\n<p>And so, I have tried to walk in her shoes and capture what her thoughts might be.<\/p>\n<p>Elizabeth might write:<\/p>\n<p>It is important that you know that I was born in Bristol, England on February 3, 1821. In those days, a female physician was unheard of. How could a woman possibly achieve the degree of MD? Pshaw!<\/p>\n<p>By 1832 my family had left England and we found ourselves in New York.<\/p>\n<p>My family was not well-off. It was quite acceptable for a woman to become a schoolteacher. Financial support was needed and so I taught for a while.<\/p>\n<p>But, I was not happy and felt myself ill-suited for teaching. My mind would wander as I tried desperately to cram knowledge into little often unwilling brains.<\/p>\n<p>I had not thought of the impossible career of medicine until a close friend became horribly ill. She later told me that she felt that a female physician would have understood her, had more compassion, and given her better care.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout my entire career, I endured prejudice because of my sex. It began with my medical school applications. My fingers became sore as I applied to more than ten medical schools and kept getting the inevitable letters of rejection.<\/p>\n<p>Finally! I almost fainted with shock when I was accepted to the Geneva Medical College in western New York. I found out later that the male students had been queried about my admittance and they actually agreed! If even one man had voted no, I would not have been allowed to matriculate. The men agreed because they thought it was a prank of some kind. They never expected to find me and my skirts in their classroom, sitting side by side with them.<\/p>\n<p>And so I became the first woman to actually get an MD in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>It was a hard road, but I was fortunate to have a supportive family. Our dinner table conversations focused on the rights of women, and the abolishment of child labor and slavery\u2014my dear father was very active in abolitionist groups.<\/p>\n<p>My parents had the rare perspective of believing that each child should pursue their talents and interests, be they boy or girl.<\/p>\n<p>They told me that I did not have to limit myself to teaching or domesticity.<\/p>\n<p>When I graduated from medical school back in 1840, I felt I needed more education. So, I went to England and France. And of course, it continued happening. I wanted to study in hospitals and my rejections seemed to outnumber the hairs on my head. Finally, I was allowed to enroll at La Maternite\u2019 which was a \u201clying-in\u201d hospital in Paris. That was our term for a maternity hospital. I doubt you use it today. You are not afraid to use the word \u201cpregnant.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I was told I could work as a student midwife, but not a doctor. Even with my degree, I could not be recognized as a physician. Being a woman meant I did not have the brains, strength or skills to be a doctor.<\/p>\n<p>I was quite fortunate to work under the most well regarded obstetrician of the day, Dr. Paul Dubois and he loudly proclaimed to all who would listen\u2014that I was going to be the best obstetrician in the United States, period.<\/p>\n<p>Returning to the United States and my family, I quickly found that sexism was still rampant. There were so many times when I just wanted to stamp my feet and shout, \u201cListen, you idiots! I am just as smart as you. I am a real, trained doctor. I just have breasts and female genitals and wear skirts. So open up your closed minds and see me as simply an excellent physician.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I would like to present a portion of my diary which could give some insight into the difficulties and prejudice that were all around me. It was written during my time as a medical student at Geneva Medical College.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had not the slightest idea of the commotion created by my appearance as a medical student in the little town. Very slowly I perceived that a doctor\u2019s wife at the table avoided any communication with me, and that as I walked backwards and forwards to college the ladies stopped to stare at me, as at a curious animal. I afterwards found that I had so shocked Geneva propriety that the theory was fully established either that I was a bad woman, whose designs would gradually become evident, or that, being insane, an outbreak of insanity would soon be apparent.\u201d \u2014Elizabeth Blackwell\u2019s Diary, November 22, 1847<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Curmudgeon suggests &#8220;Bitter Medicine\u201d, Dr. Eugene Eisman&#8217;s story of his experiences&#8211;from the humorous to the intense&#8212;as a young army doctor serving in the Vietnam War.<br \/>\nBitter Medicine by Eugene H. Eisman, M.D. &#8211;on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Bitter-Medicine-Doctors-Year-Vietnam\/dp\/0615874347\">Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Doctor Curmudgeon\u00ae is Diane Batshaw Eisman, M.D., a physician-satirist. This column originally appeared on SERMO, the leading global social network for doctors.<\/p>\n<p>SERMO <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sermo.com\">www.sermo.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: #808000;\"><a style=\"color: #808000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.authorhouse.com\/en\/bookstore\/bookdetails\/232300-BOXING-INTERVIEWS-OF-A-LIFETIME\">Click Here to Order Boxing Interviews Of A Lifetime By &#8220;Bad&#8221; Brad Berkwitt<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Diane Batshaw Eisman, M.D. FAAP Doctor Eisman is in Family Practice in Aventura, Florida with her partner, Dr. Eugene Eisman, an internist\/cardiologist Once upon a time, in 1849 Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman in the United States to be allowed to have an MD degree. Of course, it wasn\u2019t easy. My predecessor has [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":124529,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[32040],"class_list":["post-124528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-doctor-curmudgeon-if-she-were-writing-now"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=124528"}],"version-history":[{"count":-3,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/124529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=124528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=124528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=124528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}