At a time of strictly observed gender roles, it was very rare for a woman to seek a medical education. In 1849—a year before WMCP opened—Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman in America to earn a medical degree, from New York’s Geneva Medical College. Her initial application was subject to a vote by the all-male student body. Assuming that it was a joke, they all voted “yes.”

It’s finally time to put the old stereotype about male doctors and female nurses away for good. According to new data this week from the Association of American Medical Colleges, female students outnumber male students in this year’s entering class at US medical schools, for the first time in history—and enrollment trends overall suggest there may well be more women in the medical field than men in the near future. Per the data, female matriculants (or enrollees) comprised 50.7% of the 21,338 people entering medical school this year. Female matriculants increased by 3.2% this year while male matriculants declined by 0.3%; what’s more, though, is that since 2015, the former group has increased by 4% while the latter has declined 6.7%.

“Honor walls are commonplace in many higher learning institutions,” says Dr. Silver. “Unfortunately, what they commonly reinforce are an image of the medical profession as a bastion of male dominance. This, at a time when children’s STEM learning environments actively focus on dispelling stereotypes and women make up a significant proportion of doctors in America.” Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/3529877#ixzz4wr2eCMPv