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Ann Preston was a member of the first graduating class of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1851. She accepted the Chair of Physiology in 1853 and became Dean of the College in 1866, the first woman ever to become dean of a medical school.
As a student, she had dreamed of a hospital run and staffed by women. She also envisioned a training program for nurses as part of her hospital, which she was determined should have a Board of Lady Managers. 1861 saw the opening of the Woman’s Hospital of Philadelphia, treating only women and children, in a rented house on North College Avenue. This was the first hospital founded to provide clinical instruction facilities for women doctors. The charter of The Woman’s Hospital also provided for the first hospital-sponsored school of nursing in the United States.
Dr. Preston continued as Dean of the College until 1872. Her legacy of support for women in medicine continues on at Drexel University College of Medicine.