The first female doctor and surgeon of Britain, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was initially denied admission to medical schools because of her gender and had thus started studying privately. Soon after joining the Marylebone Dispensary as an attendant, she contributed to the formation of the New Hospital for Women.
Sophia Louisa Jex-Blake was an English teacher, physician, and feminist. A pioneer of medical education for women, Jex-Blake was the first woman to practise medicine in Scotland. She was also involved in the establishment of two medical schools for women in Edinburgh and London at a time when no medical schools were training women.