The Library of the Health Sciences (LHS) at the University of Illinois at Chicago is hosting Changing the Face of Medicine: Celebrating America’s Women Physicians, an interactive, multimedia traveling exhibition that honors the lives and achievements of American women in medicine – past and present. The exhibit is on display at LHS, 1750 W. Polk St., from February 18 – March 29, 2009. Visitors can view it during LHS’s open hours.
Changing the Face of Medicine features stories from a rich diversity of women physicians from around the nation and highlights the broad range of medicine that women have practiced. Women physicians are found in every branch of medicine. They are family practitioners, researchers on the cutting edge of new medical discoveries, educators, surgeons, medical school directors and government officials.
Women physicians of today are benefiting from the career paths carved out since the mid-19th century by a long line of American women doctors. Early women physicians featured in the exhibition include Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to earn an M.D. degree in America, and Matilda Evans, who was the first African American physician to be licensed in South Carolina.
An interactive kiosk traveling with the exhibition offers access to the National Library of Medicine’s Local Legends Web site, which spotlights outstanding women physicians from every state, including University of Illinois College of Medicine alumnae, and to the Web site created for the larger exhibition at the NLM. The exhibition Web site offers access to educational and professional resources for those considering medicine as a career, as well as lesson plans for classroom activities. A section of the Web site called Share Your Story allows the public to add stories about women physicians they know.
