Getting Your Medical Degree – Dr Emily Howard Stowe

The life lesson: you’ll have to make sacrifices to get your medical degree. The successful woman: Dr Emily Howard Stowe.  She was a Canadian schoolteacher, principal, and doctor – and she was forced to leave her kids for two years to earn her medical degree in America.

“When Emily Howard Jennings was born in 1831, girls’ lives followed a set pattern. Some girls secretly dreamed of becoming doctors or lawyers. Others just wished for a good education,” writes Sydell Waxman in Changing the Pattern: The Story of Emily Stowe. “Their dreams remained empty wishes, unlikely to come true. In the Victorian age, every girl’s future was limited to housework and child care.”

Ugh. But Waxman was wrong: not every woman’s life revolved around dirty dishes and drippy noses…It didn’t then, and it doesn’t now! Here are specific steps to getting your college degree, with life lessons and inspiration from Emily Howard Stowe…and, read The Official Student Doctor Network Medical School Admissions Guide by Christian Becker for more detailed info on getting into med school.

4 Steps to Getting Your Medical Degree - Dr Emily Howard Stowe

For extra motivation, read Getting What You Want Out of Life – Angelina Jolie.

1. Find your tribe. Whether it’s your best friend, a few friends at school, or a handful of neighbors – stick with people who motivate, energize, and challenge you. To go back to school and get your college degree, you need to surround yourself with people who help you succeed!

2. Create a master plan. “Break your goal down into smaller parts, so it’s controllable, unthreatening, and attainable,” says Vancouver-based productivity expert Christa Wagner. To get your college degree, forget about the big picture….it can overwhelm you, triggering procrastination and incompletion.

3. Plan for the long haul. Nothing worthwhile happens right away - Dr Emily Howard Stowe didn’t get her medical degree overnight, and you probably won’t be getting your college degree tomorrow! Focus on your long-term goals and reward yourself for small accomplishments.

4. Keep your eye on the ball. “My goals are on my wall, at my desk, and in my planner,” says Wagner. “I check them often and make adjustments. I always know where I’m going.” To get your college degree, stay focused on your work.

To stay focused, read 5 Strategies for Life Success – Alanis Morissette .

Emily Howard Stowe took her goal of earning a medical degree a step further…some say she sacrificed her reputation and family life to pursue her dreams…

Canada’s First Female Principal, 1846 

Emily’s Quaker roots gave her a solid grasp on the handles of equality, independence, and freedom. As the oldest of six girls, Emily embodied the birth order theory that firstborns are natural leaders, driven to achieve. She started teaching school at age 15 and became the principal of a public school in Brantford, Ontario when she was 23 (a huge achievement today, much less 150 years ago!). 

Two years later she married carriage-maker John Stowe, quit her job, and had three children.

Canada’s First Female Doctor, 1867

When John contracted a deathly case of tuberculosis and was moved to a sanitarium, Emily was left to procure the food and pay the bills. She returned to teaching after seven years as a stay-at-home mom – and two years later decided to become a doctor.

Since the Toronto School of Medicine refused to admit females (“Never in my day, Madam,” said the president to Emily), she ended up at the New York Medical College for Women. Emily was forced to leave her children with her sister, Cornelia, for two years while she completed her medical degree in America.

She was 36 when she started her medical practice in Toronto in June, 1867. Five months later she opened a second office in a small town nearby. Emily was eventually allowed to attend certain classes at the Toronto School of Medicine, but she didn’t get a medical license because she didn’t take the professional exams. Some say she refused; it was her way of protesting the behavior of the male students and professors, who piled garbage and filth on her seat, initiated deliberately vulgar classroom discussions, and defaced the walls with anti-female propaganda.

Emily practiced without a medical license for 13 years, without penalty.

If you’re thinking about getting your medical degree and have questions or comments, please fire away below! 

For more info on Emily Howard Stowe, go to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online – Dr Emily Howard Stowe.

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