Gwen Fleming
| Dr. Gwen Fleming FRACP | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Mary Gwenyth Lusby 9 June 1916 Taree, New South Wales, Australia |
| Died | 18 January 2011 (aged 94) |
| Nationality | Australia |
| Education | University of Sydney (1939) |
| Years active | 1939–1994 |
| Known for | One of the first Australian woman thoracic surgeon |
| Medical career | |
| Profession | Medical doctor |
| Field | Thoracic medicine |
| Institutions | St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |
 |
| Service/ | Royal Australian Army Medical Corps |
| Years of service | 1939–1945 |
| Rank | Major |
| Unit | Yaralla Military Hospital |
| Commands held | Officer Commanding the Medical Company |
Mary Gwenyth "Gwen" Fleming, FRACP, (9 June 1916 – 18 January 2011)[1] was an Australian medical doctor who specialised in thoracic medicine and served in the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps during the Second World War.
Biography
Mary Gwenyth Lusby was born in Taree in 1916. She graduated as MBBS from the University of Sydney in 1939; she was among the first group of women medical graduates.[2] She then joined the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps (RAAMC), and was promoted from captain to major at Yaralla Military Hospital.[3] Although she specialised in thoracic medicine, she oversaw all medical procedures at the hospital as Officer Commanding the Medical Company.[2][3] As the first female major in the RAAMC, she said that her colleagues "called me 'sir' during the war".[2] In 1945, at the conclusion of the war, she became one of the first women granted membership of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP). She married Justin Fleming, a surgeon with the Royal Flying Doctor Service, in 1946, and they relocated to the English city of Oxford to work at the Radcliffe Infirmary.[2]
The Flemings returned to Australia in 1950 and settled in Wollstonecraft, a suburb of Sydney. Gwen's career was interrupted by caring for their six children, but in 1973 she was nevertheless appointed Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. When her husband died from a heart attack in 1974, she was forced to return to work, taking up a post at a cancer clinic on Macquarie Street while also teaching at St Vincent's Hospital. She retired at 77 years old and died in 2011. After Fleming's death, Marie Bashir, then Governor of New South Wales, described her as "an outstanding Australian woman who was an inspiration to so many who had the privilege of meeting her – both within the medical profession and beyond".[2]
References
- ↑ Fleming, J (April 2011). "College Roll: Fleming, Mary Gwenyth". Royal Australasian College of Physicians. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Fleming, Justin (5 February 2011). "A trailblazer for female physicians". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
- 1 2 Neuhaus, Susan J.; Mascall-Dare, Sharon (2014). Not for Glory: A century of service by medical women to the Australian Army and its Allies. Boolarong Press. p. 146. ISBN 978-1-925046-66-3 – via Google Books.