Dr Kei Okami of Tokyo, Japan, was one of these three visiting women training to be docto
Dr Kei Okami of Tokyo, Japan, was one of these three visiting women training to be doctors at Women’s Medical College of Philadelphia during the 1880’s. All three graduated and each of them thus became the first woman from their respective countries to get a degree in western medicine. Each made the decision to defy expectations of society and family and travel independently to America to apply, then figure out how to pay for their tuition and board. Keiko Okami returned to Tokyo and was recognized as a doctor and appointed head of gynecology at one of the main hospitals. But she resigned a few years later when the Emperor refused to receive her during a visit to the hospital, because she was a woman. Then she went into private practice. [A special thank you to Chris Woolf, whose article much of this text was derived: the link brings one directly to his full article.] -- source link
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