Sarah Dolley

Sarah Dolley (March 11, 1829 – December 27, 1909) was an American physician who became one of the first women in the United States to earn a medical degree and the first woman to complete a medical internship, at Blockley Almshouse. She ran a private practice in Rochester, New York, and briefly taught obstetrics at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania.

Early life and education Sarah Read Adamson was born in Schuylkill Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, on 11 March 1829. She attended a Quaker school in Philadelphia as a child. Her uncle, Dr. Hiram Corson, initially opposed her desire to become a doctor, but eventually agreed to tutor her and later allowed her to study in his office before applying to medical school. After being denied entry to many medical colleges, Dolley became one of four women admitted to the Central Medical College, in Rochester, New York, and earned her M.D. in 1851. She became the first woman intern in the United States at Blockley Almshouse in Philadelphia, completing a one-year internship. She is buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New York.