"Women in Medicine: An Encyclopedia portrays the struggles, the accomplishments, and the inspiring careers of more than 250 of history's great healers and medical researchers. Written by a reference librarian, the volume documents previously unknown stories of women in medicine from around the world and throughout history. In its pages you will find such remarkable individuals as: James Barry, the woman doctor who masqueraded as a man for 46 years in the British Army's Medical Corps and rose to the rank of Inspector General; Gerty Cori, who won with her husband the 1947 Nobel Prize in Physiology of Medicine; Mae Jemison, the first female African-American astronaut and the first to utilize her medical skills in space experiments; and Nawal el Saadawi, a physician best known for her writings, who became director of health education with Egypt's Ministry of Health but was dismissed from her job in 1971 due to her outspoken views on women's rights." "Women in Medicine includes entries on the key universities, institutes, and foundations that helped shape the illustrious history of women's contributions to medicine. Full of illustrations and complete with an extensive bibliography and index, this encyclopedia is the most comprehensive and accessible reference work on the history of women in medicine."--BOOK JACKET.