National Doctor’s Day 2021: Dr Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi, India's first woman to receive a degree in Western medicine

As the country commemorates National Doctor's Day, we must honour their efforts and commend them for their unwavering commitment to their profession.

While we recognise the significance of doctors in our lives, we must equally remember those who have served as role models for others. Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi, India's first female doctor, is a name that should be cherished, loved, and honoured.

Dr Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi, India's first woman to receive a degree in Western medicine, graduated from the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMCP), one of the world's earliest medical institutions for women.

On March 31st, 1865, Anandibai was born into a traditional Brahmin household in Kalyan, Maharashtra's Thane district. Her parents gave her the name Yamuna, but after her wedding, her husband renamed her. She was married off to 25-year-old Gopalrao Joshi when she was just nine years old.

Gopalrao had married her on the condition that she take up studies after their marriage, as per her biography. She didn't even know the alphabet when they married since her family was opposed her obtaining an education. At the time, it was assumed that the spouse of a lady studying had died young.

Her choice to pursue medicine was motivated by the death of a child owing to a lack of medical attention. Dr. Joshi, however, was never able to practise medicine since he died of TB at the age of 22.

Her tale was so compelling that it received a lot of coverage in the Indian press at the time, and when she graduated, the then-Queen of England, Empress of India, Queen Victoria, wrote her a congratulations note.

Dr. Joshi was greeted with affection and praise when she returned home after completing her medical degree. Not only that, but she was also named the physician in-charge of the Albert Edward Hospital's women's ward in Kolhapur.

Despite her untimely demise, she is a major source of inspiration to millions not only in India, but world- across. Her incredible legacy will continue to further ignite inspiration in many Indian doctors and medical staffers till the end of times.