Gisela Johanna Ida von Poswik (June 19, 1875 – October 2, 1940) was a German-born American nurse and physician and an early specialist in

radiology Radiology ( ) is the medical discipline that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide their treatment, within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiat ...

Early life

Gisela von Poswik was born in 1875, in

Naumburg Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNES ...

, Germany, the daughter of Count Jacobus Napoleon von Poswik and Maria Johanna Lieskau von Poswik. She earned a nursing certificate from the Lankenau Hospital of Philadelphia in 1903. In 1911, she earned a medical degree at the

Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania The Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMCP) was founded in 1850, and was the second medical institution in the world established to train women in medicine to earn the M.D. degree. The New England Female Medical College had been established ...

Career

Von Poswik served in administrative roles at hospitals in Harrisburg and Philadelphia. She was superintendent of a sanitarium in

White Haven, Pennsylvania White Haven is a borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. It is located along the Lehigh River. The population was 1,163 at the 2020 census. History Establishment White Haven was created in 1824 by industrialist Josiah White. It was later incorpor ...

. In a 1907 article for the ''

American Journal of Nursing The ''American Journal of Nursing'' (AJN) is a monthly peer-reviewed nursing journal established in 1900. the editor-in-chief was Maureen Shawn Kennedy and it is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. In 2009 the journal was selected as one o ...

'', she dispensed advice to nurses, including "Never share a bed with your patient." Other scholarly publications by von Poswik included "The Value of the Roentgen Diagnosis, for the General Practitioner, in Gastro-Intestinal Diseases" (1916). She presented a paper titled "The Value of X-Ray Treatment in Cases of

Pyorrhea Periodontal disease, also known as gum disease, is a set of inflammatory conditions affecting the Periodontium, tissues surrounding the teeth. In its early stage, called gingivitis, the gums become swollen and red and may bleed. It is considered ...

" at a meeting of the Scranton Dental Association in 1922. She was the first woman member of the

American Roentgen Ray Society The American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) is the first and oldest radiology society in the United States. It was founded in 1900, in the early days of X-ray and radiation study. Headquartered in Leesburg, Virginia, the society publishes a monthly p ...

, read a paper at the Third

International Congress of Radiology The International Congress of Radiology (ICR) is a meeting of radiologists for the exchange of ideas and the harmonisation of international standards and practice, first held in 1925 in London and held at regular intervals since then. Since 1994 ...

in Paris in 1931, and was a member of the American Medical Association of Vienna. From 1916 to 1918, she was chief "roentgenologist" (radiologist) at Hahnemann Hospital in

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U ...

. Her obituary in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' noted that "she was the first woman physician in the United States to have her own x-ray equipment." She was the founding president of the Lankenau Hospital School of Nursing Alumnae Association.

Personal life

Gisela von Poswik became a United States citizen in 1919. She died in 1940 in

, at age 65. A scrapbook of von Poswik's creation, including clippings, notes and photographs, is in the collection of

Drexel University College of Medicine Drexel University College of Medicine is the medical school of Drexel University, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The medical school represents the consolidation of two medical schools: the first U.S. medical school ...

Archives and Special Collections.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:von Poswik, Gisela 1875 births 1940 deaths People from Naumburg (Saale) American nurses American women nurses American women physicians American radiologists Women radiologists Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States