Susie O'Reilly

Susie O'Reilly (25 January 1881 – 18 June 1960) was an Australian family doctor and obstetrician. She practiced on the North Shore in Sydney in the first half of the 20th century. Despite graduating fourth in her year from Medicine at the University of Sydney, her application for residency at Sydney Hospital in 1905 was rejected in favour of male applicants with a poorer academic record.

Early life and education Susannah Hennessy O'Reilly was born in Sydney, 25 January 1881. She was the third of eight children. Her parents were Mary Narcissa O'Reilly (née Taylor) and Walter William Joseph O'Reilly. Her father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all physicians, as were three of Susie's siblings: her brothers, Linnell (1879–1948) and Merrick (1892–1957) and her sister Olive (1892-1976), all of whom graduated from Medicine at the University of Sydney and who were appointed to Sydney Hospital in 1906, Perth General Hospital in 1914, and Brisbane General Hospital in 1916, respectively. Both Olive and Merrick worked in the family practice in Pymble.

O'Reilly attended the Methodist Ladies College, Burwood from 1894 to 1898. She was dux of the school in 1897 and passed her senior year in 1898, matriculating with first class honours in French.

Women were first admitted to the Sydney Medical School (founded in 1856 ) in 1885, and the first females graduated in 1893. Reports from the time suggest that this attitude was in contrast to favourable opportunities to study medicine, where no distinctions in teaching were made between the sexes at the Sydney Medical School. O'Reilly's rejection became the focus of media attention and public debate in the form of editorials and letters to the newspapers about the discrimination and roles of female doctors.

She also co-founded the Old Girls' Union at her school MLC Burwood, serving as its president; was a medical adviser to the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Pymble, and the Kindergarten Training College, Waverley, and a foundation member of the National Trust of Australia.

Personal life O'Reilly was a bushwalker, botanist, and a foundation member of the National Trust of Australia. She died on 18 June 1960 at her home in Pymble, New South Wales. She was cremated.