Abbott, Maude (1869–1940)

Canadian cardiologist and promoter of medical education for women. Born in 1869 in Montreal, Canada; died of a cerebral hemorrhage on September 2, 1940; graduated from McGill University, Montreal; graduated from Bishop's College, Montreal, 1894.

The following remark from a contemporary male doctor was indicative of the late 19th-century attitude Maude Abbott faced when she attempted to gain admission to the medical school of McGill University: "Women may be useful in some departments of medicine, but in difficult work—surgery, for instance—they would not have the nerve. Can you think of a patient in a critical case waiting while the medical lady fixes her bonnet, or adjusts her bustle?" Undaunted, Abbott pioneered in the area of congenital heart disease, and hundreds of "blue babies" indirectly owe their lives to her. She became an international authority on medical museums and worked tirelessly to break down barriers against women in medicine.

Born in 1869, Maude Abbott was orphaned early when her father deserted the family, and she and her sister Alice were adopted by their grandparents. Alice later contracted an illness that left her with a mental disorder. In coming years, Maude would spend a fortune unsuccessfully looking for a cure.

Abbott was awarded an undergraduate degree at McGill University but was subsequently denied admission to its medical school. Bishop's College, which would merge with McGill in 1905, was the first institution in Quebec to admit women as medical students. Though Bishop accepted her, the road was not easy. Abbott was denied a "ticket" for clinics at Montreal General Hospital until widespread publicity induced some of the hospital's wealthier patrons to threaten to withhold their donations unless she was granted admittance. Her case reports were stolen from the wards by male students in hopes that she would fail. Despite such acts of sabotage, she graduated in 1894, winning both the chancellor's prize and the senior anatomy medal.

After three years in Europe, Abbott was appointed assistant curator of the medical museum at McGill. In 1900, she became curator and would manage the museum for over 30 years. It was here that she developed the Osler Catalogue of the Circulatory System, named for Dr. William Osler. In 1907, the same year a fire nearly destroyed the museum and its contents, Abbott organized and edited the Bulletin of the International Association of Medical Museums. By 1910, she had also been appointed a research fellow in pathology and was formally recognized by McGill with the honorary degree of M.D., the degree for which she had unsuccessfully petitioned to study 20 years before.

In 1923, Abbott served a two-year appointment as visiting professor of pathology and bacteriology at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania. Returning to McGill, she continued her work in the museum along with writing and teaching. She established her medical reputation with a section she contributed on congenital heart defects for Osler's System of Medicine. Her major work was a massive volume, Atlas of Congenital Cardiac Disease, a classified bibliography of Osler's writings, which identified 1,000 cases.

Abbott received many awards for her work, including a gold medal—McGill's highest honor—for her presentation on congenital heart disease. The exhibit, a culmination of years of research, was featured at the centenary meeting of the British Medical Association in London, and was displayed at the Graduate Fortnightly in Cardiology at the New York Academy of Medicine in 1931. Following her retirement in 1936, the Carnegie Foundation granted her $2,500 to complete a book on heart disease. Unfortunately, the book was never completed. While sitting for a portrait, which was to be the first likeness of a woman to hang in the medical building of McGill, Abbott was stricken and taken to the hospital. She died of a cerebral hemorrhage on September 2, 1940.

suggested reading:

Macdermot, H.E. Maude Abbott, 1941.