Emily Winifred Dickson

Emily Winifred Dickson (13 July 1866 – 19 January 1944) was an Irish medical doctor who was the first female fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. She was also the first female fellow of any of the Royal Colleges of Surgery in Great Britain and Ireland.

Early life Dickson, born in Dungannon, County Tyrone, was the fifth child of the Ulster Liberal Member of Parliament Thomas Alexander Dickson. Her mother Elizabeth (née McGeagh) was ill for most of her childhood, and doctors were common in the house. Dickson nursed her mother for a year after her school days. She then, with family support, decided she wanted to be a doctor. She had been educated at the Mrs Byers' Ladies Collegiate School in Belfast and went from there to London's Harold House School.

Her brother James was an Ulster Liberal Party Member of Parliament for the borough of Dungannon from 1880 to 1885. Until the election of Mhairi Black he had been the youngest member of parliament.

Dickson was the second youngest of seven children; three boys (James, John McGeagh, Thomas) and four girls (Sarah Louise, Mary, Emily, and Edith).

Education Dickson was not allowed to attend Trinity College, Dublin, as women were not permitted. In 1887, she was accepted to the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland which was just starting to accept women as students. She was the only woman medical student in her year. She managed to complete her training as she was permitted to take part in all the necessary activities in Sir Patrick Dun's Hospital, the Rotunda Lying-in Hospital and the National Eye and Ear Infirmary as well as the Donnybrook Dispensary and Richmond Lunatic Asylum.

Dickson achieved her licence in 1891 and her Bachelor of Medicine in 1893, the latter with first class honours. In the same year, she was elected fellow of the college, the first in Ireland or Great Britain.

It was the same year that Doctor Elizabeth Bell qualified at Queen's University in Belfast.

Early career Following her graduation, Dickson was awarded a travelling scholarship by the Royal University of Ireland. She spent six months working in Vienna and Berlin. However, in Berlin she faced significant resistance about her gender, with one professor claiming she had cheated to get her position on his course and that Winifred was a man's name.

Dickson gained her hospital experience at a variety of institutions between 1889 and 1892 she trained at St. Patrick Dun's Hospital.