Lauren Stroupe Mr. Jones Writing 23 March 2023 Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler: The Heroine of African American Doctors Introduction Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler was a luminary example of a valiant heroine. Her work as a groundbreaking physician has earned her-her honorary remembrance. As the saying goes, not all heroes wear capes, some wear badges or heavy equipment, others wear their heart on their sleeve, yet one hero, who’s great work went almost unrecognized to history, wears a stethoscope and the scars of those who implemented different stereotypes upon her. Living in a world where, because of the color of her skin, others believed she wasn’t smart enough or even deserving of a chance to have a career, Dr. Crumpler broke down barriers and paved …show more content…
Crumpler’s love for aiding others came at a young age and inspired her career. Her first working experience consisted of helping neighbors alongside her aunt in Pennsylvania. “Her aunt frequently cared for sick neighbors, and Crumpler accompanied her aunt on these trips” (Rothberg). Aiding those in need of medical attention was an introduction to Crumpler’s life devotion, at a young age. This early working experience inspired her studies in college. “Crumpler credits these efforts by her aunt for inspiring her to enter the medical profession” (Tomasi). Crumpler worked for multiple doctors in a nursing apprenticeship, after moving to Massachusetts in 1852. At the time, there was no formal nursing school, and if there had been, times wouldn’t have allowed someone like Crumpler to attend. She continued to follow through with this training profession for eight years. The introduction to working as medical aid with her auntie served as a stepping point in guiding Crumpler’s …show more content…
Being both African American and female took its toll on Crumpler’s practices, yet she persisted. While focusing on her studies at the New England Female Medical College, Crumpler was ridiculed by colleagues. “She faced intense racism and sexism working as a physician in the postwar South” (Balzer). Knowing the light at the end of the tunnel would be her promising career as a physician, Crumpler kept going despite the abuse. “White doctors ignored her, made jokes at her expense and discounted her work” (“Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler”). Fellow colleagues of Crumpler’s even went as far as telling the head educators of their college that her brain was too small for this line of profession, all because her working ethics consisted of heavy concentration. This torment of hers was a small price to pay in order to achieve her goal in becoming a doctor. Despite the challenges that presented themselves during Crumpler’s most vital time of work, she continued to pursue working to be a
Although she relocated in her twenties to the north she still experienced racial disparity specifically through her medical experience. John Hopkins was a hospital with a unique mission, in retrospect to the time in which it was founded, this mission is simply put by a scholarly article on the subject, “to provide care to the sick and indigent ‘without regard to sex, age, or color’”. With the socio economic status and race of Henrietta this hospital was one of the least segregated and most willing to provide car for Henrietta and people like her. Despite this seemingly positive improvement in her story, what went on in the hospital and specifically what took place with the story of Henrietta lacks was not right or ethical. Henrietta and many others were in fact segregated into color wards, although the segregation took place she received the standard care of that time.
So she knew she could avoid the doctor know longer, so her husband drove her to the only major hospital that served African-Americans. The hospital was known as John Hopkins and it was in East Baltimore. At the hospital, she had gone to see a gynecologist named Howard Jones, who studied her long list of untreated diseases. She had many untreated medical conditions, but they were never treated with proper medical treatment. During the time at the hospital, she stated that “walking into Hopkins was like entering a foreign country where she didn’t speak the language.”
Black patients were usually denied access to medical care, and many doctors thought that black patients were inferior to whites. Henrietta was treated at Johns Hopkins for her cervical cancer where she recieved below-average medical care due to her race. Though the hospital was one of the few that even allowed African American patients, it was known for conducting unethical experiments on their patients. Henrietta’s medical records would later reveal her doctors never told her the true severerity of her cancer, and also the fact that they were taking her cells for research purposes. In the words of Rebecca Skloot, “Henrietta knew nothing about her cells growing in a laboratory.
In the “Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”, Rebecca Skloot discusses two main issues of the medical research in the 20th century America, which are pertinent to people all around the modern world: class difference, especially racism and ethics of medical research, especially non-observance of consent. Racism is frequently addressed in this reading. Between Henrietta’s house and John Hopkins hospital, there were many reputable medical centers but she was not allowed to visit any of these because they were set up for the treatment of whites. Even in John Hopkins, there was a separate, inferior ward for colored patients.
In the book, Skloot points out the irony of how this Black woman, Henrietta help save millions of people’s lives, including the Whites, with her cancer cells and helped white doctors into doing research for numerous diseases. Yet, the whites still treated the blacks unfairly. Whether in getting quality medical treatment, making rumours of Henrietta, or even disregard her identity, the unfair treatment of the blacks is stark. Skloot first talk about how in the 1950s, hospitals refused to treat black patients and only accepted to treat the whites. The only hospital that blacks could go at that time was the “Johns Hopkins Hospital”.
Furthermore, this essay will explain the effect Barton had on the practice of professional nursing and provide a prediction of the future needs of nursing based on Barton’s legacy. The Rationale for Clara Barton To begin, Clara Barton was chosen because of her impactful legacy, her trailblazing character, and her lifelong passion and dedication to serving humanity and helping others. Barton’s efforts to provide wartime care during the Civil War and her work to establish the American Red Cross solidified her as an American icon. Moreover, Barton’s trailblazing character was illustrated when she rushed into battlefield to save lives, despite not having any nursing training.
Rebecca Lee Crumpler is a woman that history knows little of other than her degree and the little she wrote about herself in the beginning of a book. What makes this woman so important to history, and so important to me, is that Rebecca Lee Crumpler was the first African-American woman to earn an M.D. degree in the United States, and one of the first African Americans to write a book of medical advice. Crumpler, born in Delaware in 1831, was raised by her aunt in Pennsylvania. Crumpler’s aunt was a woman who spent much of her time caring for sick neighbors and friends. In the beginning of her book, A Book of Medical Discourses, she explained that being surrounded by the work of her aunt is what made her form a liking to relieving the suffering of others, which is what pushed her to go into medicine.
Janis’s parents instilled in her the value of hard work. She was accepted into medical school at the University of Minnesota in 1973, a time when there were not many female doctors. She buried herself in her studies not realizing the glimpses she was developing into another world. For instance, one day while working on a cadaver her focus was shifted outside to make eye contact with a squirrel, and in that moment she felt as if she was viewing the entire scene from above (Amatuzio, 2006 p. 13).
Jane Cooke Wright's legacy is incredibly inspirational to young African-American women interested in entering the medical field. She was a trailblazer who demonstrated that women of color could succeed in a male-dominated field. Her success serves as an example of what is possible for African-American women in the medical field and beyond. In addition to her professional accomplishments, Dr.Jane Cooke Wright also served as a role model for African-American women. She was a strong advocate for equal rights and fought for the advancement of her commitment and dedication to advancing the medical field is an inspiration to African-American women and a reminder of the importance of fighting for what is right.
During a time of racism and segregation Rebecca Lee Crumpler doubted many people by becoming one of the first African American woman physician. Her journey to become a physician was challenging as she was doubted, had no support from her peers but she was determined to prove people wrong. At a young age, Crumpler faced many doubters, as many black females either became slaves or housewives; she followed her aunt’s footsteps and began to study medicine. During her time in medical school she was faced with many challenges by her follow peers, racism and hypercritical attitudes from her peers made her determined to look pass their judgment and pursue her dream of becoming a doctor, “the prejudice that prevented African Americans from pursuing careers in medicine to become the first African American woman in the United States to earn an M.D. degree" ("Changing the Face of Medicine | Rebecca Lee Crumpler."). She faced challenges head on and did not fail to prove people wrong, "It was a significant achievement at the time because she was in the first generation of women of color to break into medical school, fight racism and sexism" (Gray).
Mary’s sixteen month training made her a greater nurse. This training made it possible for her to be asked to speak for the NACGN, become a member of that association, and later become a member of the ANA. Mary’s active membership in the nursing associations, and her outstanding work as a nurse made it possible for an award to be named after her. It is because of Mary that women of all races who aspire to be in the nursing profession can make it through like Mary
Racism in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Imagine your mother, sister, wife, or cousin was diagnosed with cervical cancer and you believed the doctors were doing everything in their power to help her. Only later you discovered her cells were used for research without consent and she was not properly informed of the risks of her treatment due to her race. This story happened and is told by Rebecca Skloot in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Skloot use of narrative and her writing style enhances the understanding of the story. Henrietta Lacks was a young black woman who was diagnosed with cervical cancer at John Hopkins Hospital.
Racism in the Medical Field Racism has existed in the medical field for over 2,500 years. Where people of certain races, religions, and genders are all discriminated against by the people in this world who are supposed to help them. Doctors take an oath to treat all patients with equity, yet still some patients are prone to bigoted racism. However it goes the other way as well, even doctors experience racial prejudice by patients and their families.
During it 's two hour runtime it depicts the both the hardships of pioneering in uncharted territories of medicine as well as the racial discrimination and segregation of America in the 40s. It is a mirror of both great capacity for good and progress as well as inhumane detachment from one another based on race such as with Vivian Thomas or even gender such as with Dr. Helen Taussig. The struggle to advance the discipline of medicine with all cost and at the same time bringing us closer together as human beings under the same purpose no matter the differences is worthy of discussing. The ethical dilemmas depicted on the movie can be divided in two categories; social and medical.
Index Introduction……………………………………………………………page 3 Pre-appointment research……………………………………………page 4 Job shadowing experience………………………………………….. page 5-6 Overview……………………………………………………………….. page 7 References… …………………………………………………………. page 8 Introduction The beginning of medicine can be pinned back to the late 1800s, in Germany.