The origins of women in surgery (1890-1940)

Introduction. Currently, there are no historical medical studies aimed at studying the role of female surgeons in practical healthcare and science.The purpose of the study. On the basis of literature data, documentary sources and biographies of typical representatives, to form a periodization approach to the development of women's work in surgical specialties. Determine common and particular features within individual periods.Materials and methods. Narrative, historical-genetic, comparative and structural methods were used in the study.Results. We have identified three periods of entry of women into surgical specialties. The first period refers to the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century and is characterized by single individuals who became surgeons not because of, but in spite of circumstances. The second period can be divided into two stages: the first stage is the mass, directed by the state, training of women in medical universities, which formed a vast contingent of highly educated specialists, most of whom worked as general practitioners (in modern terms, a general practitioner). The second stage of the second period is associated with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, when female general practitioners were called up to the positions of front-line and hospital surgeons. After the end of the war, many of them continued to work in peacetime surgery. The third period - post-war enrollment in medical universities was characterized by a demographically determined large number of female students who consciously chose surgery as their specialty.Conclusion. During the years 1890-1940. there is a steady increase in the number of women in surgical specialties, caused by the state policy of the Soviet state.