Isabella "Ella" Ferrier Pringle FRCPE (1 December 1876 – 27 May 1963) was the first female Fellow of the

Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) is a medical royal college in Scotland. It is one of three organisations that set the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by royal charter i ...

(RCPE), in 1929. She practised as a medical missionary in

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

before a pioneering career in child health. In official documents she is referred to as Dr I. F. Pringle.

Biography

Isabella Pringle was born on 1 December 1876 in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland, the daughter of Andrew Pringle and his wife, Isabella Barbour. She worked as a typist until the age of 29, and then entered the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

to study medicine. She received her MBChB in 1909. She worked as a

United Free Church of Scotland The United Free Church of Scotland (UF Church; , ) is a Scottish Presbyterian denomination formed in 1900 by the union of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland (or UP) and the Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900), majority of the 19th-cen ...

medical missionary in

until ill-health forced her to return to Scotland in 1916. She then studied for a Diploma in Public Health, and in 1917 was appointed the assistant medical officer for Paisley. In 1919, she became the first full-time female medical officer with responsibility for maternity and child health. From 1921 to 1941, Pringle worked in Edinburgh as the senior assistant medical officer, and by the end of her tenure in the role she had developed a complete child welfare and maternity service. She received her doctorate (MD) in 1921 and took her MRCPEd examinations in 1925. She was elected the first female Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 1929. She died on 27 May 1963. She is buried with her parents in Morningside Cemetery, Edinburgh. The grave is marked by a simple stone and lies near the war memorial in the north-east section of the cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pringle, Isabella 1876 births 1963 deaths Medical doctors from Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Medical School Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh 20th-century Scottish women medical doctors 20th-century Scottish medical doctors Christian medical missionaries Female Christian missionaries