Doing it for themselves

“Wherever the art of medicine is practiced, there is also a love for humanity…”

Hippocrates

This chalk drawing is part of the Wellcome Collection. It is a 1920 work of Francis Dodd. The operation we see here is an appendicectomy. The site of the surgery is the Military Hospital, Endell Street, London. This hospital was founded in 1915 by the suffragette movement. All the staff were woman. Indeed the only male in this picture is the patient. This is one of the first depictions in art of woman as the primary surgical proceduralist. Sadly, the hospital closed a few years after WW1, but the point had been made. #nolongerremarkable #letsmakelemonade