Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-45l2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T06:14:36.767Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Women in otorhinolaryngology: a historical perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 July 2018

S Konstantinidou  and
M Adams
S Konstantinidou*
Affiliation:
ENT Department, Antrim Area Hospital, Northern Ireland, UK
M Adams
Affiliation:
ENT Department, Antrim Area Hospital, Northern Ireland, UK
*
Author for correspondence: Dr Sevasti Konstantinidou, Room A-107, Hospital Accommodation, SWAH, 124 Irvinestown Road, Enniskillen BT74 6DN, Northern Ireland, UK E-mail: sevastgk@hotmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Otorhinolaryngology has an extensive history that spans nearly five millennia, and the history of women as medical and surgical practitioners stretches back to at least 3500 BC.

Objectives

To explore the history of women in ENT from ancient to modern times, and discover their fascinating role in this field over the years.

Method

A literature review was conducted using Google Scholar and PubMed.

Results

In ancient and medieval times, there were female doctors accomplished in areas pertaining to ENT. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, inspirational women pioneers paved the way for modern female ENT surgeons. This led to a rapid increase in the representation of female otorhinolaryngologists in clinical practice and authorship over the last fifty years.

Conclusion

The contribution of women to otorhinolaryngology has evolved since ancient times and the greatest advancement has occurred within the last two hundred years.

Keywords

ENTOtorhinolaryngologyWomenFemaleHistory
Type
Review Articles
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 132 , Issue 8 , August 2018 , pp. 670 - 672
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited, 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Dr S Konstantinidou takes responsibility for the integrity of the content of the paper

Presented orally at the British Society for the History of ENT Annual Meeting, 30 November 2017, London, UK.

References

1Royal College of Surgeons. History of Women in Surgery. In: https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/careers-in-surgery/women-in-surgery/history/ [20 September 2017]Google Scholar
2Pastena, JA. Women in surgery: an ancient tradition. Arch Surg 1993;128:622–6Google Scholar
3Friedman, R, Fang, C, Zubair, M, Kalyoussef, E. Women's role in otolaryngologic medicine. Bull Am Coll Surg 2016;101:40–5Google Scholar
4Parker, HM. Women doctors in Greece, Rome, and the Byzantine Empire. In: Furst, LR, ed. Women Healers and Physicians: Climbing a Long Hill. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1997;131–50Google Scholar
5Tsoucalas, G, Sgantzos, M. Aspasia and Cleopatra Metrodora, two majestic female physician–surgeons in the early Byzantine era. J Univer Surg 2016;4:3Google Scholar
6Tsoucalas, G, Karamanou, M, Androutsos, G. Metrodora, an innovative gynecologist, midwife, and surgeon. Surg Innov 2013;20:648–9Google Scholar
7Wirtzfeld, DA. The history of women in surgery. Can J Surg 2009;52:317–20Google Scholar
8Green, MH. Books as a source of medical education for women in the Middle Ages. Dynamis 2000;20:331–69Google Scholar
9Whaley, LA. The Medieval Contribution, in Women and the Practice of Medical Care in Early Modern Europe, 1400-1800. New York: Macmillan, 2011;7–25Google Scholar
10Makwana, N. A history of women in surgery. Int J Surg 2014;12:S50Google Scholar
11Stanley, A. Mothers and Daughters of Invention: Notes for a Revised History of Technology. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1995;145Google Scholar
12Ali, AM, McVay, CL. Women in surgery: a history of adversity, resilience, and accomplishment. J Am Coll Surg 2016;223:670–3Google Scholar
13Royal College of Surgeons. Biographical Entry: Hadfield, Esmé Havelock (1921–1992). In: https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/biogs/E007976b.htm [20 September 2017]Google Scholar
14Whiteside, OJ, Corbridge, RJ, Capper, JW. Esme Hadfield (1921-92) and the Wycombe woodworkers. J Med Biogr 2010;18:24–6Google Scholar
15Royal College of Surgeons. Biographical Entry: Whetnall, Edith Aileen Maude (1910–1965). In: https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/biogs/E006192b.htm [20 September 2017]Google Scholar
16Ferguson, BJ, Grandis, JR. Women in otolaryngology: closing the gender gap. Curr Opin Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2006;14:159–63Google Scholar
17Hughes, CA, McMenamin, P, Mehta, V, Pillsbury, H, Kennedy, D. Otolaryngology workforce analysis. Laryngoscope 2016;126:S5–11Google Scholar
18Choi, SS, Miller, RH. Women otolaryngologist representation in specialty society membership and leadership positions. Laryngoscope 2012;122:2428–33Google Scholar
19NHS Workforce Statistics. Doctors in the otolaryngology specialty by grade and gender, by headcount and full time equivalent supplementary. In: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20180328132045/http://content.digital.nhs.uk/article/7572/2017-Supplementary-information-files [6 July 2018]Google Scholar
20Bhattacharyya, N, Shapiro, NL. Increased female authorship in otolaryngology over the past three decades. Laryngoscope 2000;110:358–61Google Scholar
21Rosenfeld, RM. Clinical research in otolaryngology journals. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 1991;117:164–70Google Scholar