Helene Knabe, MD, graduated from the Medical College of Indiana, a predecessor to IU School of Medicine, in 1904. Knabe went on to become the first female assistant pathologist for the Indiana State Laboratory of Hygiene, later serving first as deputy state health officer and then as assistant state bacteriologist. In this position, she championed a new treatment for rabies that was credited with reducing mortality rates in the state.
Lillian Mueller, MD, was a 1909 graduate of IU School of Medicine and went on to become the first female physician at Methodist Hospital, where she introduced the use of gas anesthesia. Mueller later became the first secretary of the section on anesthesia for the Indiana State Medical Association (1934) and served as head of anesthesiology for City Hospital (Indianapolis) from 1940-1955.
Edith Schuman, MD, was the first female intern at IU School of Medicine, serving in this capacity from 1933-1935. Schuman went on to serve as chief medical officer for the Army Specialized Training Corps and helped develop the IU Student Health Center, where she served as one of its early physicians. IU Bloomington offers the Edith Schuman Award in her honor, given for academic excellence and significant contributions to the sports medicine program for women’s athletics.
Learn more about IU School of Medicine’s founding women and also visit the Women in Medicine blog to read the stories of women who are making an impact at IU School of Medicine.
