Tamil Nadu Timeline

HealthBritish Crown rule

First women students admitted to Madras Medical College

· Madras Medical College

First women students admitted to Madras Medical College
Unknown authorUnknown author, CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mary Scharlieb and three other women entered Madras Medical College in 1875, among the first women to study medicine in India.

In 1875 Mary Scharlieb entered Madras Medical College as one of its first four women students. While living in Madras she had seen the lack of medical care available to women, especially in childbirth. After returning to England in 1878 she continued her medical training in London, and she later returned to Madras before building a career as a gynaecologist in Britain. The admission of women to the Madras college was an early step towards training women doctors in India.

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