Book Review: Women Physician Pioneers of the 1960s: Their Lives and Profession Over a Half Century

Women Physician Pioneers of the 1960s is a lively read grounded by an extraordinary longitudinal study of women over five decades. Fifty-eight women began their careers in medicine during the turbulent years of 1964 to 1967 at the University of California in San Francisco. Lillian Cartwright, PhD, followed their lives from early career to midlife, collecting data in the mid-60s, 1975, and again in 1990. Susan Detweiler, MD, was a member of the 1967 entering cohort and an on-going participant in the research project. Twenty-five years later, Detweiler and Cartwright decided to continue the original study. They surveyed as many women of the original group of 58 they could locate, administered similar psychological tests, and conducted in-depth video interviews of 12 of the 15 women still available in Detweiler’s 1967 cohort. The book consists of three parts. Part I sets the context with a brief introduction to Cartwright’s 25-year longitudinal research design, witnesses Detweiler’s early interest in medicine, and presents the life of medical student cohorts in the 1960s. Typical of the national averages in those years, there were only 15 women in Detweiler’s class of 135 total (8%). Most of the women’s stories are in Part II. Each of five chapters begins with a particular theme with a few illustrating cases. For example, some women’s careers were deeply shaped by their families’ histories—dislocation experiences of WWII’s Nazi Germany and Eastern Europe. In the United States, three women’s families were victims of the Japanese Internment; one woman was born in a camp. Of the 58, eight became academics. Others had traditional linear careers: early training in a particular specialty followed by a career in that specialty through retirement. In contrast, several women’s careers evolved over time. One divided her professional life in half: the first 25 years she practiced traditional Pediatric Oncology; the remaining years she provided nontraditional Pediatric Counseling including guided imagery, hypnosis, and uncovering past-life regressions. Cartwright’s research is elaborated in greater detail in Part III. By 1990, 53 of 57 surviving women completed a battery of tests and 49 met with her individually for in-depth interviews. Several patterns had emerged by midlife. Eighty-three percent were mothers. Fifteen of the mothers had children encountering significant events and challenges (e.g., tragic auto accident, suicide, and complicated cerebral palsy). Seven of the women appeared to have extraordinary happiness in their personal and professional lives. The book concludes with their research analysis. Ten years into their careers, 88% reported high career satisfaction, dropping to 76% at mid-career, and then boasted 94% at 50 years. They identify other demographics regarding retirement, perceived changes in medicine, and the overwhelming positive satisfaction with their adult lives. The book follows a collection of smart, talented, creative, and resilient women who navigated their public and private lives for a half century. The authors provide the reader an in-depth understanding of these pioneers’ experiences. The stories are very relatable to women of other professions during these decades. Detweiler and Cartwright’s 50-year study is a significant contribution to the literature specifically looking at the impact of life-career balance and the implications of choices made. It accomplished what it set out to do.