List of first female physicians by country facts for kids
This is a list of the first qualified female physician to practice in each country, where that is known. Many, if not all, countries have had female physicians since time immemorial; however, modern systems of qualification have often commenced as male only, whether de facto or de jure. This lists the first women physicians in modern countries. The dates given in parentheses below are the dates the women graduated from medical school.
Africa
| Country | Physician | Year graduated
medical school |
Year began
practice |
|---|---|---|---|
 Algeria |
Aldjia Noureddine-Benallègue | 1946 | 1946 |
 Angola |
Melba Dias Costa | 1950 | |
 Benin |
Solange Faladé | 1955 | |
 Botswana |
Nolwandle Nozipo Mashalaba | 1965 | |
 Burkina Faso |
Bibiane Kone | ||
 Burundi |
Marcelline Ntakibirora | 1982 | 1983 |
 Cameroon |
Gladys Ejomi | 1962 | |
 Cape Verde |
Maria Francisca de Oliveira Sousa | ||
 Chad |
Grace Kodindo | 1977 | |
 Comoros |
Zaitouni Abdou | ||
 Democratic Republic of Congo |
Louise Celia Fleming | 1895 | 1895 |
 Egypt |
Hilana Sedarous | 1930 | 1930 |
 Equatorial Guinea |
Margarita Roka Elobo | ||
 Eswatini |
Fanny Friedman | ||
 Ethiopia |
Widad Kidanemariam | c. 1960s | |
 Gambia |
Kinneh Sogur | 2007 | |
 Ghana |
Susan Ofori-Atta | 1949 | 1949 |
 Ivory Coast |
Christiane Welffens-Ekra | c. 1975 | |
 Kenya |
Mary de Sousa | 1919 | |
 Lesotho |
Bertha Hardegger (born in Switzerland) | 1937 | |
 Liberia |
Florence Gbeye D. McClain | 1962 | |
 Libya |
Younes Qwaider | 1969 | |
 Madagascar |
Marthe Ramiaramanana-Ralivao | 1950 | |
 Malawi |
Vida Mungwira (the country was then known as Nyasaland) | 1956 | |
 Mali |
Diaka Diawara Sacko | ||
 Mauritania |
Nusaiba Abdel-Qader and Meimouna mint Mohamed Lemine | 2015 | 2015 |
 Mauritius |
Sajeda Vayid | 1965 | |
 Morocco |
Françoise Legey (born in France) | 1900 | 1909 |
 Namibia |
Libertina Amathila | 1969 | 1969 |
 Nigeria |
Elizabeth Abimbola Awoliyi | 1938 | 1938 |
 Republic of Congo |
Yvonne Obenga | c. 1970s | |
 São Tomé and Príncipe |
Julieta da Graça do Espírito Santo | 1955 | |
 Senegal |
Marie-Thérèse Basse | 1957 | 1958 |
 Seychelles |
Hilda Stevenson-Delhomme | 1939 | |
 Sierra Leone |
Irene Ighodaro | 1945 | |
 Somalia |
Hawa Abdi | 1971 | 1971 |
 South Africa |
Jane Elizabeth Waterston | 1880 | |
 Sudan |
Khalida Zahir | 1952 | 1952 |
| Zaroui Sarkissian | 1952 | ||
 Tanzania |
Esther Mwaikambo | 1969 | 1969 |
 Tunisia |
Tewhida Ben Sheikh | 1936 | 1936 |
 Uganda |
Josephine Nambooze | 1959 | 1962 |
 Zambia |
Elwyn Chomba | 1973 | |
 Zimbabwe |
Madeline Nyamwanza-Makonese | 1970 | 1970 |
Americas
Asia
| Country | Physician | Year graduated
medical school |
Year began
practice |
|---|---|---|---|
 Afghanistan |
Maghul M. Ali | 1957 | 1957 |
 Azerbaijan |
Sona Valikhan | 1908 | 1908 |
 Bahrain |
Sadeeqa Ali Al-Awadi | 1969 | |
 Bangladesh |
Zohra Begum Kazi | 1935 | |
 Brunei |
Datin Paduka Dr Hjh Intan | ||
 Cambodia |
Kek Galabru | 1968 | 1968 |
 China |
Kin Yamei | 1885 | 1885 |
 India |
Anandi Gopal Joshi / Kadambini Ganguly | 1886 | |
 Indonesia |
Marie Thomas | 1912 | 1922 |
 Iran |
Sakineh Peri | 1934 | |
 Iraq |
Anna Sethian | 1922 | |
 Japan |
Ogino Ginko | 1882 | 1885 |
 Jordan |
Nirmen Totanji | 1953 | 1953 |
 Korea |
Esther Park (Kim Jeom-dong) | 1900 | |
 Kyrgyzstan |
Kakish Ryskulovna Ryskulova | 1944 | 1944 |
 Kuwait |
Eleanor Jane Taylor Calverley (born in the U.S.) | 1908 | 1911 |
 Lebanon |
Anisa Saiba | c. 1890s | c. 1890s |
 Malaysia |
Salma Ismail | 1947 | 1947 |
 Mongolia |
V. Ichinkhorloo | 1947 | |
 Myanmar |
Daw Saw Sa | 1912 | |
 Nepal |
Jamila Sen | 1897 | 1899 |
 Oman |
Zakiyyah Bint Salem Bin Seif Al Me'man | 1944 | |
 Pakistan |
Khabzam Iqbal | c. 1983 | |
 Philippines |
Honoria Acosta-Sison | 1909 | 1909 |
 Saudi Arabia |
Nawal Jamal Al-Lail | ||
 Singapore |
Lee Choo Neo | 1919 | 1919 |
 Sri Lanka |
May Ratnayake | 1916 | 1916 |
 Syria |
Sabat Islambouli | 1890 | 1890 |
 Taiwan |
Tsai Ah-hsin | 1921 | 1925 |
 Tajikistan |
Sofya Khafizovna Khakimova | 1943 | 1943 |
 Thailand |
Pierra Vejjabul | 1936 | 1936 |
 United Arab Emirates |
Zulekha Daoud | 1963 | |
 Uzbekistan |
Zulfiya Ibragimovna Umidova | 1922 | 1922 |
 Vietnam |
Henriette Bùi Quang Chiêu | 1934 | |
 Yemen |
Claudie Fayein (born in France) | 1955 | |
- Nepal: Bethel Fleming (born in the U.S.) is considered the first Western female physician to practice in the country.
Europe
Oceania
| Country | Physician | Year graduated medical school |
Year began practice |
|---|---|---|---|
 Australia |
Constance Stone | 1890 | |
 Fiji |
Kanta Madovji | 1968 | |
 Kiribati |
Terenganuea Taaram (then known as the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony) | before 1974 | |
 Micronesia |
Ulai Otobed | 1965 | |
 New Zealand |
Emily Siedeberg | 1896 | 1905 |
 Papua New Guinea |
Joan Refshauge | 1947 | |
 Samoa |
Viopapa Annandale-Atherton | 1964 | |
 Solomon Islands |
Junilyn Pikacha | 1978 | 1981 |
 Tonga |
'Akanesi Makakaufaki | 1976 | |
 Tuvalu |
Nese Ituaso-Conway | 1999 | |
| Miliama Simeona | 1999 |
See also
In Spanish: Anexo:Primeras médicas por país para niños
- List of first female pharmacists by country
- List of first women dentists by country
- Women in dentistry
- Women in medicine
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List of first female physicians by country Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.