f which all
particulars can be obtained from the secretary of each school.

When a woman becomes a registered medical practitioner, she is for
the first time legally entitled to treat patients herself, and is
entrusted with responsibility. As in most other branches of knowledge
in the world, while she has simply been learning and carrying out her
duties under authority, she has had no opportunity of really testing
her own knowledge. It is, therefore, very generally felt amongst newly
qualified medical practitioners that they need more experience before
undertaking quite independent medical work. This experience is
best gained by taking hospital posts. By this is meant positions of
moderate responsibility, such as that of resident house physician or
resident house surgeon in a hospital, where the newly qualified doctor
is under the authority of an experienced visiting "chief," but is
expected to deal with ordinary incidents as they may arise, to realise
the relative importance of different symptoms, and report those that
matter to the visiting physician or surgeon.

It is at this stage that the doctor must decide whether she wishes to
become

(a) a "specialist" in some particular branch
of medicine or surgery,
(b) a general practitioner, or
(c) whether she wishes to work in the public
service.

(a) If she wishes to be a specialist she must so arrange her future
work as to gain experience in the branch which she selects. For
this purpose it is necessary to take posts at special hospitals, and
ultimately to become a member of the staff of some hospital in the
department chosen. Here women find that they are heavily handicapped.
The only hospital of any size in London of which the members of staff
are all women is the New Hospital, Euston Road, and this admits only
of a small staff, giving opportunities to comparatively few women for
special experience.

The Royal Free Hospital, where women take their training as students,
has now two women on its staff in the department for gynaecology. It
has also a woman anaesthetist, and some of the minor posts, such as
clinical assistant to the outpatients, pathologist, etc., are open to
them. All the physicians, the surgeons, and the assistant physicians
and surgeons are, however, men.

Of the hospitals for special ailments in London, none so far admits
women to the staff, and it has only recently become possible for
them even to form part of the medical