Joyce Nichols was the first female to graduate from Duke University's Physician Assistant Program, and the first African-American female to graduate from any physician assistant program.
Julia Glenn Hester (1936-2016) received her BSN from Duke University in 1959, her master's from UNC-Chapel Hill, and her PhD from Duke University in 1979. Hester worked as a public health nurse for the Charlotte, North Carolina Health Department. At the time of her retirement, she was a school psychologist with the Winston Salem-Forsyth County Schools. Contains Hester's Duke University School of Nursing diploma and a blue-gray wool nursing cape. Materials date to 1959.
Contains professional papers of Julian Meade Ruffin, gastroenterologist at Duke University Hospital and chief of the Division of Gastroenterology (1930-1965).
Contains the professional papers of Justine Strand de Oliveira, former Vice Chair for Education in the Department of Community and Family Medicine. Types of materials include an academic stole, certificates, correspondence, newsletters, programs, notes, clippings, a calendar, agendas, business cards, faxes, legal statutes, membership lists, photographs, reports, meeting minutes, a questionnaire/survey, a grant proposal, an application to Duke's Physician Assistant (PA) program, the Duke Student and Faculty Handbook, a VHS tape, Strand's Physician Assistant License, Dr. E. Harvey Estes interview transcript, and digital files representing her 2011 professorship dossier and documenting the "Pop Up Think Tank" organized by Strand while working in the United Kingdom. Major subjects include professional development, state regulations for PAs, and advocacy for PAs contributions to the medical field. Materials range in date from 1973 to 2020.
Dr. Kathleen Clem was the first chief of the Division of Emergency Medicine within Duke University's Department of Surgery. This collection contains 1 oral history interview conducted on June 27, 2007 by Jessica Roseberry. In this interview, Clem discusses women's issues in the medical field, including her own experiences as a female leader in Duke University Medical Center's Division of Emergency Medicine in the Department of Surgery.
Kathryn Ann Decker graduated from the Duke University School of Nursing in 1943. Prior to her graduation, Decker joined the Duke Student Reserve for the American Red Cross in 1942 and also became one of the first members of Santa Filomena, a senior women's nursing honor society at Duke University, in 1943. This collection contains news clippings, newsletters, Duke bulletins, and an alumni register collected by Kathryn Ann Decker during her time as a student at Duke University School of Nursing, as well as after her graduation. A major subject of the materials is Duke student and alumni service in the United States Armed Forces. Materials range in date from 1941 to 1947.