Ruth Jackson (December 13, 1902 – August 28, 1994) was the first female board-certified

orthopedic surgeon Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics (American and British English spelling differences, alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgic ...

in the United States and the first female admitted to the

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) is an orthopedic organization. Founded at Northwestern University in 1933, as of 2015 AAOS had grown to include about 39,000 members.AAOMembersPage accessed June 27, 2015 The group provides ed ...

Life and death

Ruth Jackson was born on a farm near Scranton, Iowa and moved to

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

at age 14. Jackson married, but divorced after 2 years so she could concentrate on her work. She died in the Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas in 1994 at the age of 91.

Education and career

Upon completing high school, Jackson told her parents she was planning to take premedical instruction at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

, but her father disapproved so she became a

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

major. She changed her major to premedicine before graduating in 1924 when she learned a father was unable to support his family because of a bad knee. Jackson was then motivated to learn how to prevent instances like that in the future. She earned her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in economics and sociology from the

, and her medical degree from

Baylor College of Medicine The Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is a private medical school in Houston, Texas, United States. Originally as the Baylor University College of Medicine from 1903 to 1969, the college became independent with the current name and has been se ...

in 1928, where she was one of four women in a class over 100 students. In her training as a med student, Jackson was not allowed to examine men and was told at orientation that the female students would need to score grades 10 points higher than the male students in order to graduate with "equal standing". Jackson graduated 8th in her graduating class of 1928. After graduation, intentions of pursuing a career as a general

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

could not be fulfilled because general surgery internships were not available for women. In 1928, she found a rotating internship at the Worcester Massachusetts Memorial Hospital and returned in 1930 to continue her residency in

orthopaedics Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

after she accepted and carried out an opportunity to train in orthopaedic surgery in later 1928 under MD, Arthur Steindler (1878-1959) at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

. After completing her residency in orthopaedics at Worcester, Jackson served as a resident physician for the

Scottish Rite Hospital for Crippled Children The Children's Healthcare of Atlanta - Scottish Rite Hospital is a nationally ranked, freestanding, 319-bed, pediatric acute care children's hospital located in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is affiliated with the Emory University Sch ...

in Dallas, Texas from 1931 to 1932. Dr. Jackson opened her own private practice in Dallas after she completed her residency in 1932. In 1933, the

was founded and would only allow Dr. Jackson, a female, into the academy if she passed the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery examination. She became board-certified by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons in 1937. Jackson joined the staff at the Baylor University Hospital in 1939 then soon became chief at the non-school orthopaedic service at Parkland Hospital and established the hospital's first orthpaedic residency. She later opened up her own private clinic in Dallas in 1945 where she practiced orthopaedics for the remaining 38 years of her career. Dr. Jackson was one of the founders of th
Texas Orthopaedic Association
in 1936. She stopped operating in 1974, but continued to examine patients until 1989. Jackson wrote the boo
"The Cervical Syndrome"
based on her experiences of treating over 15,000 neck injuries, made numerous publications in medical journals, and invented the Jackson Cervi-Pillow to help victims of whiplash. In 1950, she was appointed to the Advisory Committee for Services to Crippled Children by Secretary of Labor,

Frances Perkins Frances Perkins (born Fannie Coralie Perkins; April 10, 1880 – May 14, 1965) was an American workers-rights advocate who served as the fourth United States Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, the longest serving in that position. A member o ...

. Dr. Jackson was an expert in problems of the foot and ankle and those of the

cervical spine In tetrapods, cervical vertebrae (: vertebra) are the vertebrae of the neck, immediately below the skull. Truncal vertebrae (divided into thoracic and lumbar vertebrae in mammals) lie caudal (toward the tail) of cervical vertebrae. In sauro ...

.Jackson, Patsy Mayes. Ruth Jackson M.D.: A Life on the Leading Edge. 2007: BookSurge Publishing.University of Iowa Ruth Jackson-Steindler Orthopaedic Clerkship

, Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation. In 1983, th
Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society
a support and networking group for female orthopedic surgeons, was founded in

Rosemont, Illinois Rosemont is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located immediately northwest of Chicago. As of the 2020 census, the village had a population of 3,952. The village was incorporated in 1956, though it had been settled long before ...

and was named for her. Membership in the society is open to practicing surgeons, residents, fellows, and medical students.

References

External links

American Academy of Orthopaedic SurgeonsRuth Jackson Orthopaedic Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Ruth 1902 births 1994 deaths 20th-century American women physicians American orthopedic surgeons University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts alumni Baylor College of Medicine alumni Physicians from Dallas American women surgeons 20th-century American surgeons