User:CBrown405/Mabel Purefoy FitzGerald

During the Pike Peak's Expedition, FitzGerald was the only woman on the trip. She was not allowed to travel with the men however, but was able to make a lot of measurements as she traveled around to the high altitude areas and mining towns in Colorado with her mule. She went to altitudes of 6000 to 12500 feet in the mountains for data in areas like hemoglobin and alveolar air. Her patients included herself and the workers and civilians of the towns she traveled to. Her findings heavily contributed to the world's knowledge on respiration at higher altitudes like lower PaCO2, greater ventilation, and elevated hemoglobin levels. She recognized that these were the simple, basic, but necessary changes the brain does to accommodate for the environment. Even after all the data she had discovered, she was disappointed for now finding data from sea level to 5000 feet.

In 1887, Sir Francis Gotch granted Mabel permission to attend the Honor School of Physiology, where she became the first female student in medical school at the University of Oxford. She attended her first scientific presentation in 1902 at the inauguration of Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen alongside future Nobel prize winners Paul Ehrlich and Robert Koch. It wasn't until 1904 where should would be working alongside John Scott Haldane to determine the role of carbon dioxide in disease where she would meet William Osler, the father of modern medicine. Mabel was invited by Osler to help him establish a medical training program at Radcliff Infirmary. As a couple years passed, Mabel found herself as a research fellow at the new Rockefeller Institute in New York City. Once there, Mabel befriended Canadian fellow Maud Menten and both relocated to the University of Toronto. There, she modified the histological method and proved the origin of hydrochloric acid in the parietal cells of gastric tubules. After completing her research, Mabel returned to New York in hopes of earning her medical degree from Oxford. Her 1500 hours in the medical curriculum and three years of clinical training with Osler proved to be insufficient as the University of Oxford did not award medical degrees to women at the time. The New York Board of Regents decided that Mabel should attend an American high school due to them claiming Mabel's extensive English education was insufficient for her to receive her medical degree. Mabel began high school in New York City. In 1915, Mabel was still attending high school until James Ritchie, founder of the Pathological Society and the Journal of Pathology and Bacteriology, asked her to come work as a clinical pathologist at the Edinburgh Infirmary. Mabel accepted and traveled to Scotland, however, she still pursued earning a medical degree and applied to the London College of Physicians and Surgeons. After reviewing her application, they determined that she would be much too busy working as a clinical pathologist while trying to earn a medical degree. She was never awarded a medical degree.

She worked with many great scientists during her research like Sir William Osler, John Scott Haldane, Charles Scott Sherrington, and many more in a plethora of fields like pathology, immunology, gastroenterology, respiratory physiology and neurobiology.

As a woman who was still being disrespected by the many societal roles of the time, she was very frustrated with the Board of Regents continuously making it hard for her to teach and do research. Until in 1915, Jamie Richie, the founder of the Pathological Society and the Journal of Pathology and Bacteriology who also mentored her, sent her a message. He wanted her to come down to Edinburgh Infirmary to be a clinical pathologist. She left as quickly as she could to replace the doctor that had left for the war. As she arrived in Scotland, she continued her attempt to get into medical school and get her degree. She applied to the the London College of Physicians and Surgeons. This sadly never happened as they told her that it would not be plausible to work as a clinical pathologist and go to medical school. She remained as a teacher at the University of Edinburgh until 1930. ]

Mabel and Haldane teamed