> Thematic History

> 1850-1901:
Education for Women
- Victorian Ideals
- Woman Physician
- Ladies College

> 1902-1913:
Education & Vocation
- Learning at ELC
- The Westfield Way

> 1914-1945:
War & Circumstance
- The Great War
- WWII Evacuation
- Learning & Leisure

> 1946-1959:
Peace & Acceptance
- Restoration
- Medicine & Dentistry

> 1960-present:
Change & Opportunity
- Women in Science
- Creativity & Diversity
- Then & Now

In 1948, women were admitted to study medicine without restriction at St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical School. This followed the requirement that all London medical colleges offer co-educational medical study, which was enforced by the University Senate Committee on the Medical Education of Women.

Medical Students at Barts, 1948.
Courtesy of St Bartholomew's Hospital Archives.

Barbara Boucher, Eva Alberman and Jean Edwards (below) were amongst the women admitted to study medicine at The London Hospital Medical College from 1948. Edwards entered The Dental School at The London in 1950, and Alberman and Boucher began studying medicine at The London in c1952 and 1954 respectively.

Barbara Boucher c1958, Eva Alberman c1950 and Jean Edwards c1950.
Courtesy of Royal London Hospital Archives.

Students, including Boucher, were taught by Dorothy Russell, who attended The London during the years just after the First World War, when women were admitted to study temporarily. In the photograph below, Professor Dorothy Russell appears as a member of the audience when a woman student receives a prize at graduation c1953.

Student receiving a prize at The London Hospital Medical College, c1953.
Courtesy of Royal London Hospital Archives.

Since restrictions were formally lifted at all London hospital medical schools, women have been succeeding alongside their male counterparts. The numbers of women medical students increased, and continue to keep pace with their male colleagues. Women’s roles and advancement in the medical and dental professions have continued to grow.