News, observances, history – Page 82 – watercress words by Dr Aletha

Updated September 4, 2026

By the most recent statistics published by KFF, 55% of United States medical school graduates are women. If that trend continues, eventually at least half of all practicing physicians in the United States will be women.

class reunion — My medical school graduating class at our 30th reunion; the original class was larger, 150 students, but the percentage of women was the same as in this photo. (I’m in the pink dress)

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Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell-Trailblazer and Reformer

The first woman graduate of a United States medical school was born in Bristol, England in 1821. (Thank you, UK readers). Elizabeth Blackwell came to this country as a child and originally had no interest in medicine. But when a dying friend told her, “I would have been spared suffering if a woman had been my doctor”, she found her calling.

She was denied admission to multiple medical schools. The Geneva Medical College of New York submitted her application to the student body for a vote, and, as a joke, they voted to admit her. Well, the joke was on them as she enrolled, completed medical school and graduated in 1849.

With her sister, Emily Blackwell , who also graduated from medical school, and a German physician, Marie Zakrzewska, they opened and ran the New York Infirmary for Women and Children in 1857.

Dr. Emily Blackwell managed the Infirmary for 40 years. Dr. Marie Zakrzewska moved to Boston when she founded the New England Hospital for Women and Children, which trained women physicians and cared for the poor.

Due to failing health, Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell retired from practice in the 1870s.

The Physicians Mom Group (PMG) declared Dr. Blackwell’s birthday February 3 as National Women Physicians Day. This day celebrates all the significant contributions that women physicians make daily, none of which would have been possible without Elizabeth Blackwell.

Dr. Blackwell embodied the ABC characteristics of extraordinary women physicians-

Attentive, Brave, Compassionate

doctors in surgery — Women physicians providing free medical care in a mission hospital

Women physician members of CMDA providing medical care in Ecuador

Dr.Rebecca Lee Crumpler-Challenging Prejudice

Prior to founding her hospital, Dr.Zakrzewska served as professor at the New England Female Medical College. That school produced another notable women physician, Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler.

Dr. Crumpler graduated in 1864, becoming the first African-American woman to earn the M.D. in the United States. After practicing in Boston, she moved to Virginia where she and other black physicians cared for freed slaves, who otherwise would have had no access to medical care.

In 1883 Dr. Crumpler wrote a book of medical advice for women and children, titled Book of Medical Discourses, one of the earliest medical publications by an African American.

Dr. Virginia Apgar-Teacher and Innovator

More recently, a woman physician’s work has impacted the lives of countless babies and their families. If you have had a baby, or been born within the past 60 years, you benefited from the work of Virginia Apgar, M.D.

She was neither an obstetrician or a pediatrician, but an anesthesiologist. As she observed deliveries of infants she proposed a scale to rate how well a newborn was adapting to life outside the mother.

She considered 5 factors:

heart rate
respiratory (breathing) rate,
muscle tone,
reflexes, and
color-pink (warm) or blue(cold)

And assigned each a score- 0, 1, or 2, at 1 minute of age, and again at 5 minutes.

So a newborn had a potential score as low as 0 and as high as 10.

The higher the score, referred to as the Apgar score, the more likely the baby was healthy and would do well. The lower the score meant the baby was in trouble and needed intensive medical attention.

After testing the rating scale over several years, doctors started using it routinely; so for the past 50-60 years, almost all babies have been “graded” with an Apgar score at birth. The Apgar score is used widely throughout the world.

Dr. Apgar, who played violin and cello in her college orchestra, was appointed the first full professor of medicine at Columbia University and was a director for the March of Dimes.

The National Library of Medicine profiles

these and many other women physicians at

Changing the Face of Medicine –

celebrating America’s women physicians.

Exploring the HEART of health

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Dr. Aletha

updated April 23, 2026

A few years ago I went to Peoria, Illinois, for training for a new job. I had never been there before so one afternoon I did some exploring.

I came across this magnificent church

Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception

Who was Mother Teresa?

Catholic nun and missionary Mother Teresa was born on August 26, 1910, in Skopje, the current capital of the Republic of Macedonia. She was baptized as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. Her father died suddenly and under mysterious circumstances when she was only 8 years old. Her mother taught her to care about all people, especially the destitute, although they were far from well-off themselves.

She felt a call to religious life as a young girl, and after becoming a nun, Sister Teresa first worked as a teacher. Later, she felt a second call, this time to work among the poor and sick in Calcutta, India. Now known as Mother Teresa, it took a year to get permission to leave the convent for the slums of Calcutta.

statue of the nun Mother Teresa — I stopped to get a better look and while exploring the grounds found this statue of Mother Teresa.

With some of her former students, she founded the Missionaries of Charity. Their projects included founding a leper colony, an orphanage, a nursing home, a family clinic, and mobile health clinics. She also opened Gift of Love, a home to care for persons with HIV/AIDS.

For her work, Mother Teresa was awarded many honors and awards, including the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her work “in bringing help to suffering humanity.”

Despite her acclaim, Mother Teresa remained modest and humble. After her death, some of her private writings became public, revealing she often doubted her faith and felt lost and alone. Although people criticized her for this, others see it as a reflection of true faith in God, remaining devout even when she didn’t feel certain, something many of us can understand.

She died in September 1997 and was beatified in October 2003. In December 2015, Pope Francis recognized a second miracle attributed to Mother Teresa, clearing the way for her to be canonized as a saint in 2016. (source biography.com)

MOTHER TERESA-COME BE MY LIGHT a book cover — MOTHER TERESA, Come Be My Light THE PRIVATE WRITINGS of the SAINT OF
CALCUTTA

Why a statue of Mother Teresa in Peoria?

I was curious why this church in Illinois had a statue of Mother Teresa. I learned Mother Teresa visited Peoria twice because nuns from the Missionaries of Charity worked there at St. Mary’s. On one occasion, she spoke to a group of women saying,

“I am a poor woman that prays.”
Mother Teresa

A local artist, Lonnie Stewart, travelled to India to sketch Mother Teresa, then completed the 6-foot-tall statue of her, unveiling it at the church in 1998.

God has not called us to be successful, but to be helpful.”
Mother Teresa

Watch Mother Teresa on Amazon

The inspirational portrayal of Mother Teresa, a simple nun who became one of the most significant personalities of the 20th Century.

Armed with a faith that could move mountains, Mother Teresa followed her calling to help the poor, the lepers, the dying, and the abandoned children in the slums of Calcutta, challenging many authorities – including the church – along the way.

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Mother Teresa”Anyway” Quotes Wall Art- “Do It Anyway”-

8x 10″ Vintage Art Wall Print-Ready to Frame. Distressed Inspirational Home, Studio & Office Décor. Perfect Life Quotes for Peace & Good Will.

Exploring the HEART of Health

Thanks for sharing this visit with Mother Teresa with me. If you go to Peoria IL, be sure you visit the Cathedral