Jennie Kidd Trout
| Jennie Kidd Trout | |
|---|---|
| File:Jennie Kidd Trout.jpg | |
| Born | Jennie Kidd Gowanlock April 21, 1841 Kelso, Scotland |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Los Angeles, California |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation | Physician |
Jennie Kidd Trout (April 21, 1841 - November 10, 1921) was the first woman in Canada legally to become a medical doctor, and was the only woman in Canada licensed to practice medicine until 1880, when Emily Stowe completed the official qualifications.
Born Jennie Kidd Gowanlock in Wooden Mills, Kelso, Scotland, Jennie (whose name is variously spelled 'Jenny') moved with her parents to Canada in 1847, settling near Stratford, Ontario. Trout had taken a course in teaching after graduation, and had taught until her marriage to Edward Trout. She married Trout in 1865 and thereafter moved to Toronto, where Edward ran a newspaper.
Motivated by her own chronic illnesses, she decided on a medical career, passing her matriculation exam in 1871 and studying medicine at the University of Toronto. Trout and Emily Jennings Stowe were together the first women admitted to the Toronto School of Medicine, by special arrangement. Stowe, however, refused to sit her exams in protest of the school's demeaning treatment of the two women. Trout later transferred to the Women's Medical College in Pennsylvania, where she earned her M.D. on March 11, 1875 and become the first licensed female physician in Canada.[1]
Trout then opened the Therapeutic and Electrical Institute in Toronto, which specialized in treatments for women involving "galvanic baths or electricity." For six years, she also ran a free dispensary for the poor at the same location. The Institute was quite successful, later opening branches in Brantford and Hamilton, Ontario.[1]
Due to poor health, Trout retired in 1882 to Palma Sola, Florida. She was later instrumental in the establishment of a medical school for women at Queen's University in Kingston.[2] Her family traveled extensively between Florida and Ontario, and later moved to Los Angeles, California, where she died in 1921.[1]
In 1991, Canada Post issued a postage stamp in her honor to commemorate her as the first woman licensed to practice medicine in Canada.[3]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Buchanan, D. (2012). " In His Name": The Live and Times of Jenny Kidd Trout. Leaven. 3(3): 16.
- ↑ Dembski, P. E. (1985). Jenny Kidd Trout and the founding of the women's medical colleges at Kingston and Toronto. Ontario History. 77(3): 183.
- ↑ Buchanan, W. W. (1991). Canada honours its first licensed woman doctor: Jeannie (Jenny) Kidd Trout (1841-1921). Proceedings of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, 21(4): 455-457.
External links
- GOWANLOCK, JENNY KIDD (Trout), Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
- Historica Minute video and details, with links to lesson plans
- Jennie (Jenny) Kidd Trout (The Canadian Encyclopedia)
- Jennie Kidd Gowanlock Trout, biographical page from a descendant
- Famous Canadian Physicians at Library and Archives Canada
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles with hCards
- 1841 births
- 1921 deaths
- 20th-century Canadian physicians
- 19th-century Canadian physicians
- Canadian women physicians
- People from Perth County, Ontario
- Pre-Confederation Ontario people
- Scottish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario
- People from Kelso, Scottish Borders
- University of Toronto alumni
- Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)
- Canadian philanthropists
- Queen's University faculty
