Archive

The first woman anesthetist in the world, Hakeem Rupa Bai Furdoonji of Hyderabad "had administered anesthesia in the British Residency Hospital, Afzalganj Hospital and Zenana Hospital, Hyderabad, in the years 1889-1917,” notes a paper titled "Dr (Miss) Rupa Bai Furdoonji: World’s first qualified lady anesthetist” by N. Ala, K. Bharathi, P. K. J. P. Subhaktha, M. Gundeti and A. Ramachari published in the May-June 2010 issue of the Indian Journal of Anaesthesia as reported in Telangana Today of July 21, 2017. At that time there was neither separate specialty like anesthesiology nor a separate specialist like anesthesiologist — surgeons used to anesthetize the patients and hand over the unconscious patient to the care of a nurse or medical student, notes the paper.

 

 

 

 

"Five lady scholars of Hyderabad (including Furdoonji) joined (the) medical course” run by Maj Edward Lawrie, chief surgeon of Afzalganj Hospital as well as principal of Hyderabad Medical School (HMS), a forerunner of the Osmania Medical College of Hyderabad, according to the academic paper. Trained at HMS between 1885 and 1889, the degree acquired by Furdoonji was "Hakeem.” The authors note that though "it sounds like (a) Unani (Indian medicine) medical qualification, in fact it was a western system of medical education.” Subjects taught were anatomy, physiology, medicine, surgery and midwifery. Deputed to Edinburgh in 1909 to gain more experience and knowledge about anesthetics, Furdoonji obtained a diploma in physics and chemistry from the University there "because the knowledge of these subjects was found useful for the doctors who handled anesthetics.” The paper notes that Furdoonji also pursued a medical course at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore.
Original certificates and some letters pertaining to Furdoonji’s career from the collection of Dr Hurmuzdyar Kaoosji were handed over to Ramachari in 1988 by his nephew Capt Bakhtyar Kaoosji for the collection of the Indian Institute of History of Medicine (IIHM) in Osmania Medical College, Bakhtyar informs Parsiana, in response to queries. The memorabilia includes a letter from Dr Annie Besant, president of the Theosophical Society and co-passenger on Furdoonji’s outward journey to Edinburgh, introducing the hakeem to a doctor friend in the UK. "Indian lady doctors are so much needed in India... that to aid the women who are brave enough to take up this profession in order to help their sisters is a real service to India,” wrote Besant.
Fudoonji’s services were requisitioned by the British Resident in Aden from his Hyderabad counterpart on her return journey when her ship anchored there for a few weeks, "as her services are very useful.” The anesthetist had "working knowledge of Urdu, Persian and Arabic,” according to Bakhtyar who has roots in Hyderabad and now lives in Kuala Lumpur. This communication is part of the documents handed over by him to the IIHM too. 
Furdoonji retired from Nizam’s Medical service as superintendent of British Residency Hospital. "All (our) efforts failed to trace her career after her retirement in about 1920,” note the authors of the paper. Bakhtyar adds, "the lady had a brother called Jeevanji​, who was also in the services of the Nizam. Both Rupabai and Jeevanji were single all their lives and lived in a house opposite to the present Telangana Secretariat and behind Shapurwadi. The house still exists with a slight modification.”
According to Wikipedia, Claudia Potter (1881–1970) was the first female anesthesiologist in the US. She graduated from the University of Texas Medical Branch in 1904, a decade and a half after Rupa Bai.