First Woman Doctor In New Zealand Is 91

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30366, 15 February 1964, Page 2

First Woman Doctor In New Zealand Is 91

New Zealand’s first woman doctor, Dr. Emily McKinnon, celebrated her ninety-first birthday in Dunedin recently. She is in the Chalet Hospital recovering from a fall last winter, when she broke a thigh, and walks with the aid of a stick. Dr. McKinnon entered the Otago Medical School in 1891, after having to obtain the consent of both' the university council and the Otago Hospital Bo<ard, at a time when, medical diplomas were being refused to Women in England. After graduating in 1896, Dr. McKinnon travelled extensively overseas for postgraduate study and completed a special degree in midwifery at the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin. She spent a few months in Berlin and in Austria and later worked in the Sheffield Infirmary, England. When she returned to New

Zealand Dr. McKinnon became the first woman to be appointed medical superintendent of a hospital (St. Helen’s Maternity Hospital, Dunedin) and remained in this post for 33 years. She married in 1928 and retired from practice 10 years later. During her medical career, Dr. McKinnon established the first ante-natal clinic in New Zealand.