The Doctor Is In

As the academic year wraps up, about 3,000 students are graduating from Canadian medical schools — and nearly two-thirds of them are women. Jennett “Jennie” Kidd Trout, who became Canada’s first licensed female doctor 150 years ago, would no doubt be thunderstruck. For Dr. Trout, realizing her dream of being a doctor was a difficult journey requiring remarkable persistence and determination.

Born in Kelso, Scotland, in 1841, Trout moved to the Stratford, Ont., area (then Canada West) with her family, the Gowanlocks, when she was six. Soon after her marriage in 1865, Trout began to suffer from what was termed a “nervous disorder,” which responded in part to electrotherapy — a new field then used to treat uterine and breast disorders, mental illness and fatigue, among other conditions. That experience inspired her to become a doctor.

Trout, along with Dr. Emily Stowe, a fellow Canadian who had earned her medical degree in New York in 1867, fought for several years to attend the Toronto School of Medicine, which only admitted male students. In 1871, both were finally accepted into the one-year qualifying course, where they endured much harassment from some staff and students.

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