by Liz Waterhouse
This exercise looks at the topic of Women in Medicine but will also revise/extend work on Florence Nightingale, Alexander Fleming, antiseptics, hospitals and surgery.
Go to: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWwomen.htm
Scroll down to the heading 'Doctors and Nurses' and take a look at the articles on the following women who were active during the First World War:
- Vera Brittain
- Florence Farmborough
- Elsie Inglis
- Mary Borden
The marks alotted for each question are given in square brackets.
Part A
| 1. | What
do the articles tell us about the medical training of nurses and women
doctors at the time of World War 1,and how has the training changed
since the time of Florence Nightingale? [5]
Hint: Look at Inglis (Biography),Farmborough (extract 5) |
|
| 2. | Do
the extracts show a change in attitude towards nurses and female doctors
since Florence Nightingale's service in the Crimea? (Think about the
status of the job, their backgrounds, how they are encouraged …)*
[5]
Hint: Look at Borden (Biography), Farmborough (extract 5), Brittain (VAD poster), Inglis (extracts 2,5) |
|
| 3. |
How does the
work of the women in World War 1 differ from that of the Crimean
nurses? (Think about their roles and responsibilities as well as
tasks.) [10] |
|
Part B
| 4. | It has been said that World War 1 interrupted the development of some aspects of medicine, but helped to develop others such as surgery. What evidence can you find in the articles of: | |
|
a. |
old-fashioned medical practices (old-fashioned for the 1900s) and medical situations similar to those described by Nightingale in the Crimea. | |
| b. | medical practices that had developed since the Crimean War? (Include details about the running of the hospitals, layout of the wards, available drugs, cleanliness, sanitation, treatment etc.) [15] | |
| 5. |
What do the articles show about the use of antiseptics in medicine at this time, and can you find any evidence to support Fleming's view that antiseptics were not the full answer to the successful treatment of wounds? [5] |
|
* For a reminder of the training at the time of Florence Nightingale, look at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/medicine/nonint/indust/ht/inhtcs1.shtml
Medicine
and Public Health provides excellent
source and review material for teaching this topic in the Schools History
Project.