Jennie Trout, 1841-1921

Jennie Trout, motivated by her own experiences living with illness, decided after being married that she wanted to become a doctor — a revolutionary idea, since at that point no women were licensed to practice medicine in Canada. She and Emily Stowe were the first women admitted into the Toronto School of Medicine, but they received demeaning treatment from both students and teachers. Trout eventually transferred to the Women’s Medical College in Pennsylvania, where she received her M.D. in 1875, making her the first licensed female physician in Canada. She opened the Therapeutic and Electrical Institute in Toronto, treating women and also offering a free dispensary for the poor; she was also instrumental in establishing a medical school for women in Queen’s College, Kingston, Ontario. Trout’s experiences at the Toronto School of Medicine were chronicled in a Heritage Minute TV spot by the Institut Historica Dominion Institute.