Women in Medicine

Gr 4-6-With a nod to Merit Ptah of Egypt, the first known woman doctor, this volume chronicles the lives of eight U.S. pioneers in the field. Although the stories of Elizabeth Blackwell and May Edward Chinn have been covered elsewhere, the lives of Virginia Apgar, Dorothy Lavinia Brown, and Alma Dea Morani are less well known but just as compelling. The well-organized, lively text covers the subjects' early lives, their efforts to be admitted to medical school and practice medicine, and their achievements. Readers will learn that such advances as the Apgar score to assess a newborn's vital signs, early heart bypasses, and reconstructive plastic surgery techniques were developed by women. Black-and-white photographs and reproductions illustrate the profiles.-Christine A. Moesch, Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, NY Copyright 1998 School Library Journal Reviews