Virginia Apgar, M.D. Obstetrician, Anesthesiologist (https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Virginia_Apgar)
Women and Adversity:
Virginia Apgar
Obstetrician, Anesthesiologist
Invented Apgar Score
Method to Assess Newborn’s Health
Virginia Apgar has saved millions of lives. She developed the Apgar Score in 1952, a method that has been accepted as the global standard for assessing a newborn’s health. At one minute and five minutes after birth, the 10-point Apgar Score measures the baby’s breathing, skin color, reflexes, motion and heart rate. The Apgar acronym stands for Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, Respiration.
Growing up, Apgar knew she wanted to be a doctor. As most women of her time who sought a higher education, she was discouraged from pursuing her goal, which was to be a surgeon. Instead, Allen Whipple, chairman of surgery at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York, encouraged her to practice anesthesiology. He felt inroads could be made in that field.
Apgar accepted the challenge and went to University of Wisconsin-Madison where Ralph Waters had established the first anesthesiology department. She was the only woman resident among 15 men. She then studied at Bellevue Hospital in New York and earned a certificate as an anesthesiologist. She returned to Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons and Presbyterian Hospital as director of the new division of anesthesia, the first woman to head a specialty division there. Through the 1940s she was administrator, teacher, recruiter and coordinator in addition to being a practicing physician. In 1949 it established an official department of anesthesiology but named a man as head of the department. Apgar was given a faculty position and became the first woman to be a full professor.
Apgar ended her career by working for the March of Dimes as the chief of the Division of Congenital Malformations. As a result, she traveled the U.S. speaking to pregnant women about keeping healthy. She appeared on television and spoke on the radio giving sound medical advice.
Bio
- Born – June 7, 1909 in Westfield, New Jersey
- 1925 – Graduated from Westfield High School
- 1929 – Graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a major in zoology, minors in physiology and chemistry
- 1933 – Graduated from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, fourth in her class
- 1937 – Completed residency in surgery at College of Physicians and Surgeons. Of the 90 students in the class, she was one of nine women.
Career
- 1938 – Became Director of Anesthesia at College of Physicians and Surgeons, the newly formed division
- 1949 – 1959 was full professor at College of Physicians and Surgeons
- 1959 – Master’s degree in public health, Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health
- 1959 – 1974 worked for March of Dimes Foundation
- 1973 – Elected Woman of the Year in Science by Ladies Home Journal
- 1974 – died on August 7 at the age of 65 in Manhattan, New York of cirrhosis
Honors
- 1994 – 20-cent Great Americans series postage stamp
- 1995 – Inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, Seneca Falls, New York
- 1999 – Designated a Women’s History Month honoree by the National Women’s History Project
- 2018 – Google celebrated Apgar’s 109th birthday with a Google Doodle
Personal Life
- Apgar never married and had no children
- Music was an integral part of her family
- She played the violin and traveled with it, playing in chamber quartets
- 1950s – Learned instrument making. She and a friend made two violins, a viola and a cello
- She enjoyed gardening, fly-fishing, golf and stamp collecting
More Information:
Is My Baby All Right? by Virginia Apgar
www.britannica.com/biography/Virginia-Apgar
https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/spotlight/cp/feature/foundation
My ebooks available at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com:
Honoring 23 Black Women, Recognizing 23 Notable Mothers, Saluting 23 Faithful Suffragists
