Annie Genevieve O'Hara MB (1869 - 26 April 1897) was a doctor from Melbourne, Australia who was a founding member of the

Victorian Medical Women's Society The Victorian Medical Women's Society (VMWS) is the longest-running association of women medical practitioners and medical students. It was established in Melbourne, Australia in 1896 and is one of the oldest active medical organisations in the ...

, and in 1887 she was one of the first seven women who enrolled in medicine at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

. She graduated in 1894 and commenced practice, however, in 1897 she contracted a cold and died at 27 years of age.

Early life

O'Hara was born to Mary Ann O'Hara nee Connolly (1846-1895) and Patrick Kelly O'Hara (1840-1921). O'Hara's brother John Bernard O'Hara was, like their father, a school master and a poet. O'Hara's sister Elizabeth O'Hara was a medical doctor, having enrolled into the Melbourne University medical faculty at the same time as O'Hara.

Education

In the late 1880s medical schools in Australia did not accept enrollments from women. O'Hara and her sister Elizabeth wished to become doctors, and passed matriculation at the University of Melbourne, but due to the medicine faculty's ban on women, they began to look into options for study overseas. Their father wrote to the university asking for them to be accepted, as he did not want them to move away. Lilian Alexander, and

Helen Sexton Hannah Mary Helen Sexton MBBS (21 June 1862 – 12 October 1950), known as Helen Sexton, was an Australian surgeon. In 1887, she led a group of seven women to successfully petition the University of Melbourne to lift their ban on women enrolling ...

posted a notice in the newspaper seeking women who wished to enrol in medicine so they could apply as a group. O'Hara and her Elizabeth applied, as did Grace Vale, Clara Stone, and Margaret Whyte. Together they campaigned and successfully convinced the university to accept their enrolments in 1887. All of the students graduated as doctors, with O'Hara gaining her degree in 1894.

Career

On 22 March 1895 O'Hara joined

Constance Stone Emma Constance Stone (4 December 185629 December 1902) was the first woman to practice medicine in Australia. She played an important role in founding both the Queen Victoria Hospital, Melbourne, Queen Victoria Hospital, and the Victorian Medic ...

Emily Mary Page Stone Emily Mary Page Stone MBBS (31 May 1865 – 18 December 1910), generally referred to as Mary or E. Mary Page Stone (sometimes hyphenated), was a medical doctor in the State of Victoria, Australia. Mary was born in Mornington, Victoria. She was ...

, Grace Clara Stone, Lilian Alexander, Margaret Whyte, Grace Vale,

and her sister Elizabeth O'Hara for a meeting which was the foundation of the

. O'Hara worked in private practice with her sister in South Melbourne.

Death

O'Hara died on 26 April 1897 at her Beaconsfield parade residence in Albert Park, after having contracted a cold two weeks earlier. She was buried in

St Kilda Cemetery St Kilda Cemetery is located in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda East, Victoria. History St Kilda Cemetery covers a large block bordered by Dandenong Road, Hotham Street, Alma Road and Alexandra Street. It is bounded by a historic wall and cont ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OHara, Annie Genevieve Australian general practitioners 1869 births 1897 deaths 19th-century Australian medical doctors 19th-century Australian women medical doctors