Frances L. Willoughby
Dr. Frances Willoughby, a psychiatrist, is recognized as the first female doctor commissioned in the United States Navy. She was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania during the early 1900s, and earned her bachelor’s degree from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1927. She went on to earn her medical degree from the University of Arkansas School of Medicine in 1938
When World War II began, the U.S. government solicited young doctors to enlist, and Willoughby was one of them. As a woman, though, she was not permitted to join the regular forces and was assigned to the Naval Reserve. But in 1948, under the new Women's Armed Services Integration Act, she was commissioned a lieutenant commander, became the first female doctor in the Navy, and for the following year was the only woman doctor in the U.S. Armed Forces.
She was stationed at the National Naval Medical Center and treated women from auxiliary services. She helped to administer the first electric shock treatment at the hospital, and went on to treat male patients as well and give neuropsychiatric examinations to Navy veterans in Washington, D.C.
In 1950, she became the first woman with the permanent rank of commander and became staff psychiatrist at the Naval Hospital in Philadelphia, where she served until her retirement in 1964 at the rank of captain.
In retirement from military service, she established a private practice. In 1981, she was awarded the Benjamin Rush Award, the nation's most prestigious award in psychiatry. She died on May 13, 1984, at the age of 78.
Date Taken:03.10.1950
Date Posted:03.25.2024 13:26
Photo ID:8306138
VIRIN:240325-D-AB123-1003
Resolution:194x260
Size:10.21 KB
Location:US
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