Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania 175th Anniversary Celebration

Don’t miss this opportunity to celebrate the pioneering achievements and legacy of Woman’s Medical College.

The evening begins with a cocktail hour, followed by a three-course dinner and drinks. The program will feature a welcome from Charles B. Cairns, MD, Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Dean and senior vice president, medical affairs. Cocktail attire is suggested.

For questions or to get involved, contact Andrea Pesce Hannan at adp77@drexel.edu.

Cocktail Hour:
6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Dinner & Program:
7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Cost:
$175 per person

Register   See Who Is Coming

Location:
Sofitel Philadelphia at Rittenhouse Square, 120 S. 17th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
A limited number of rooms have been reserved for you and your classmates at The Sofitel at a rate of $259 per night (excluding taxes and fees). Make your reservation online, or call 215.569.8300 and mention Drexel College of Medicine’s Alumni Weekend. The deadline to book a room at this discounted rate is Thursday, April 10.

 

Female Medical College of Pennsylvania 1848

WMCP 175th Anniversary

WMCP was founded as the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1850. It was the first medical school in the world for women authorized to award a medical degree, or MD. As a legacy institution of Drexel University College of Medicine, WMCP is proudly recognized for contributing to Philadelphia as a pioneering center for medicine and as a leader in women’s higher education. WMCP provided opportunities for women to teach, practice, conduct research and manage a medical school. It was the longest-lasting women-only medical college in the U.S. — it became coeducational in 1970, admitting four men into the renamed Medical College of Pennsylvania.

A Century of Women Deans

A Legacy of Mentorship

A Timeline of Transformation

WMCP Anatomy Class in 1903

Women Physicians

This collection consists of many formats documenting the history of women physicians beginning with the first medical school for women, Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMCP). Founded in 1850, WMCP trained thousands of women physicians who practiced in all parts of the world, and provided rare opportunities for women to teach, practice, perform research and manage a medical school. WMCP was also a long time refuge for women students and faculty who faced quotas and discrimination elsewhere.

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Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMC)

Women in Medicine

The Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMC) / Medical College of Pennsylvania collections are composed of the institution's archival records and special collections on women in medicine, collectively reflecting the history of the college and women in medicine beginning in the mid-1800s. As the record of the first degree-granting medical school for women*, the archives are integral to the history of women in medicine. The special collections reach beyond the records of the College to include primary and secondary materials on the history of all women physicians, internationally and on women's health.

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*Note: the first medical school for women in the United States was the New England Female Medical College (NEFMC), later Boston University School of Medicine. NEFMC opened in 1848 with a charter to provide “for the education of Midwives, Nurses, and Female Physicians…”; the school reorganized in 1856 with a charter to issue medical degrees (MD). The Female Medical College of Pennsylvania (later Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania) opened in 1850 with a charter to confer medical degrees. See notes and references here: What/which was the first women's medical college?