Yvonne Sylvain

Yvonne Sylvain (June 28, 1907 – October 3, 1989) She was also the first woman accepted into the University of Haiti Medical School, and earned her medical degree in 1940. After graduation, she worked as a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology in the Port-au-Prince General Hospital.

Early life and education Dr. Yvonne Sylvain was born in Port-au-Prince to Eugénie Mallebranche and Georges Sylvain, a Haitian activist and an important figure of resistance against the American occupation of Haiti. They had seven children, one of them being Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain, Haiti’s first woman anthropologist.

Influenced heavily by her father, she attended Ecole Normale d’institutrices, where she graduated and began to work as a teacher. At the age of 28, she was the first woman accepted into the medical school of the University of Haiti, and earned her medical degree in 1940. She then received a scholarship from the Inter-American Health Bureau and was admitted to the Columbia University Medical School. Three years after her internship, she worked at the New York Post-Graduate Medical School and Hospital on a Pan-American Sanitary Bureau Fellowship. At the time, the University of Haiti had 241 medical students enrolled, 17 of which were women. She also became a professor of medicine at the University of Haiti. She published many articles in medical journals and continued to research about the lethal health issues occurring in Haiti. Upset by Haiti’s poor means of cancer treatment, Sylvain became adamant about investing in X-rays and other medical equipment to diagnose cancer. Showing commitment to the cause, she remained the Vice-President of the Haitian Foundation for Health and Education until her death. She worked heavily in the fields of art, painting, writing, art criticism, theater, and radio animation.

Honors The Haitian Medical Association (AMH) honored Sylvain posthumously as the first Haitian woman doctor.