List of first female physicians by country facts for kids
Did you know that not long ago, it was very unusual for women to become doctors? For a long time, medical schools and hospitals were mostly for men. But brave and smart women around the world worked hard to change this!
This article shares a list of the very first women who officially became doctors in different countries. These women broke barriers and opened doors for many others. The dates you see in the tables are usually when they finished medical school or started working as doctors.
Contents
Africa: Pioneering Women Doctors
Many African countries have a rich history of healing, but formal medical training for women started later. Here are some of the first women to become qualified doctors in Africa:
| Country | First Woman Doctor | 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 (Malawi was then called 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: Breaking New Ground
From North to South America, women fought for the right to study medicine and care for patients. Here are some of the first women doctors in the Americas:
Asia: Early Medical Pioneers
In Asia, many women also became the first to formally practice medicine, often facing cultural challenges. Here are some of their stories:
| Country | First Woman Doctor | 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.) was the first Western female doctor to work in Nepal.
Europe: Changing Old Traditions
Europe has a long history of medicine, but it took time for women to be accepted as doctors. Here are some of the first women to achieve this in various European countries:
Oceania: New Beginnings in Medicine
Even in the islands of Oceania, women stepped forward to become the first qualified doctors, helping their communities.
| Country | First Woman Doctor | Year Graduated Medical School | Year Began Practice |
|---|---|---|---|
 Australia |
Constance Stone | 1890 | |
 Fiji |
Kanta Madovji | 1968 | |
 Kiribati |
Terenganuea Taaram (Kiribati was 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
- List of first female pharmacists by country
- List of first women dentists by country
- Women in dentistry
- Women in medicine
