BOWERY TO BELLEVUE

There's a certain old world gentility and sentimentality and no feministic aggression to this autobiographical account of a very hard fight to become a doctor against a profession which considered this at the turn of the century no life for a lady. In spite of the reversal of the family's finances, Emily was able to go to Cornell and secure her degree, but in spite of the highest marks, was rejected by every hospital where she applied for in. Finally after a year, she was accepted as the first woman doctor at the New York city hospital -- Gouverneur -- and there confronted not only the most unsavory slum mention in the city but also the often brutal baiting of the other doctors. Exposed to opium, rape, murder, to long, cold hours of duty on the ambulance, and to a generally rugged regime, Emily von first the approval of the nurses and the patients, then the official sanction with her promotion as House Surgeon.... Some really interesting material here for a modest recapitulation.