Women and Children First: The Trailblazing Life of Susan Dimock, M.D.

Susan Dimock was a young North Carolinian who dreamed of becoming a physician and practiced medicine in Boston in the 1870s. She was the best-educated, most-skilled woman surgeon in the nation and inspired a new generation of female surgeons. This biography is the first to give her rightful place in medical, women's and world history.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 277 pages
Publication date: 31 October 2023
Publisher: McFarland & Co Inc

In the 19th century, it was widely believed that female patients would only be treated by male doctors. The notion of a woman doctor was considered unfathomable and repugnant to many. However, Susan Dimock, a young North Carolinian with a dream of becoming a physician, defied these expectations and went on to become one of the best-educated and most skilled woman surgeons in the nation. Dimock's life was an adventure story, filled with experiences that ranged from witnessing Civil War battles to escaping her fire-engulfed Southern hometown. She studied medicine in Zurich and Vienna, hiked the Swiss Alps, and executed complex surgeries. She also trained America's first professional nurses, inspiring a new generation of female surgeons. A prestigious Viennese medical professor, when asked for advice to aspiring young doctors, simply replied, "Make yourself to be like Miss Dimock." This biography is the first to give Susan Dimock her rightful place in medical, women's and world history.

Weight: 272g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781476692487