Jennie Kidd Trout
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jennie Kidd Trout (April 21, 1841 - November 10, 1921) was the first woman in Canada legally to become a medical doctor, and was the only woman in Canada licensed to practice medicine until 1880, when Emily Stowe completed the official qualifications.
Born Jennie Kidd Gowanlock in Wooden Mills, Kelso, Scotland, Jennie (whose name is variously spelled 'Jenny') moved with her parents to Canada in 1847, settling near Stratford, Ontario. She married Edward Trout in 1865 and thereafter moved to Toronto, where Edward ran a newspaper.
Motivated by her own chronic illnesses, she decided on a medical career, passing her matriculation exam in 1871 and studied medicine at the University of Toronto, later transferring to the Women's Medical College in Pennsylvania, where she earned her M.D. on March 11, 1875.
Trout then opened the Therapeutic and Electrical Institute in Toronto, which specialized in treatments for women involving "galvanic baths or electricity." For six years, she also ran a free dispensary for the poor at the same location. The Institute was quite successful, later opening branches in Brantford and Hamilton, Ontario.
Due to poor health, Trout retired in 1882 to Palma Sola, Florida. She was later instrumental in the establishment of a medical school for women at Queen's University in Kingston. Her family traveled extensively between Florida and Ontario, and later moved to Los Angeles, California, where she died in 1921.
[edit] External links
- Historica Minute video and details, with links to lesson plans
- Jennie (Jenny) Kidd Trout (The Canadian Encyclopedia)
- Jennie Kidd Gowanlock Trout, biographical page from a descendant
