User:Mschott1/Catharine Macfarlane

Catherine Macfarlane (1877-1969)

Catharine Macfarlane (1877-1969) was a medical doctor specializing in gynecology, obstetrics and urology. She founded one of the first screening centers for uterine cancer in the United States. She practiced medicine in a private practice and taught gynecology at the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania. She studied cancer prevention and treatment and was the first to use radium to treat cancer .She was the first woman fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and the first woman president of the Obstetrical Society of Philadelphia. In addition to her impressive professional career, she left a powerful legacy in women's healthcare. Macfarlane's research on the self-breast exam has helped allow for the normalization of women's medicine .

Early Life and Education

Macfarlane was born in Chestnut Hill Pennsylvania on April 7, 1877 . Macfarlane claimed to be inspired by her mother to enter into the medical field . She began schooling at the University of Pennsylvania in 1893 at the age of sixteen and graduated with a degree in biology in 1895 at the age of eighteen . She then began working on her M.D. at the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania before beginning postgraduate work at Johns Hopkins University. After she completed schooling she engaged in several European medical tours before returning to the United States to begin cancer research . After earning her M.D. in 1897 she began teaching obstetrics at her alma mater, the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania while running a private practice as well . In 1903, she halted her private practice to take up teaching gynecology in addition to obstetrics at the Women’s Medical College. In 1903, Macfarlane began her graduate studies in urology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and in the same year began to experiment with radium as a cancer treatment . She completed her graduate studies in 1908. Five years later, in 1913, she was admitted to the College of Surgeons .

Career

In 1908, the same year Macfarlane completed her graduate studies, she was appointed chief of gynecology at Women’s Hospital in Philadelphia . In 1922, Macfarlane was appointed professor of gynecology at the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, a position that she held until 1942. By 1932, she had established herself in the medical world and became the first female member of the Philadelphia College of Physicians and in 1936, became the chair of the Medical Women’s National Association, later the American Medical Women’s Association . In 1938 she founded and opened the Cancer Control Research Project at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania . She then went on to accept a position as a research professor at Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1942. In 1943 she was appointed as president of the Obstetrical Society of Philadelphia. She was the first woman to hold this position . In 1956 she became the chair of the Medical Society of Pennsylvania’s Commission on Cancer. She was also the first female to hold this position . Just seven years before her death, in 1962, she began research on self breast exams at the American Cancer Society’s Philadelphia Division . Macfarlane passed away seven years later in 1969 at the age of 92. With her death came the end of her tenure as vice president of the Women’s Medical College Board of Corporators .

Appearances and Honors:

Catherine Macfarlane’s career in teaching and research was prolific and with this came a number of important speaking engagements to appear at and honors to receive. In 1922, Macfarlane spoke alongside Margaret Sanger, an activist of women’s health and sexual education, at the Pennsylvania State Conference on Birth Control to advocate for women's right to vote and obtain birth control. In 1948, Macfarlane received the Strittmatter Award as well as an honorary doctorate of Science from Ursinus College . The next year she received the Gimbel Award as well as the Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania Award . In 1950, she was awarded an honorary doctorate of Science from the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania and the next year received the Lasker Award for Medical Research as well as the Elizabeth Blackwell Citation from the Trustees of the New York Infirmary . The first annual Mary Silberman Award was awarded to Macfarlane in 1952 for her work in cancer prevention and in 1956 she received her third honorary doctorate of science from the Drexel Institute of Technology . To conclude her list of honors, in 1958, she received her fourth and final honorary doctorate of science from the Jefferson Medical College .