Agnes Yewande Savage
Agnes Yewande Savage | |
|---|---|
West African woman in orthodox medicine | |
| Parents |
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| Relatives | Richard Gabriel Akinwande Savage (brother) |
Agnes Yewande Savage (21 February 1906 – 7 September 1964)
Life
Early life and education
Savage was born on 21 February 1906 in
She entered
Medical career and legacy
Savage faced gender and racial institutional barriers in her career.[2] After graduation, she joined the colonial service in the Gold Coast (present-day Ghana) as a Junior Medical Officer. Though better qualified than most of her male counterparts, she received fewer benefits.[2][3]
In 1931, she was recruited by the headmaster of Achimota College. At the urging of the headmaster, Alec Garden Fraser, the colonial government gave her a better contract. She was with Achimota for four years as a medical officer and a teacher.[2] While at Achimota, she came into contact with Susan de Graft-Johnson when the latter was the Girls' School Prefect. Johnson regularly worked with Savage at the sick bay[9] and later went on to also study medicine at the University of Edinburgh, becoming Ghana's first female medical doctor.[7] Another West African woman medical pioneer who studied at both Achimota and Edinburgh was Matilda J. Clerk, who became the first Ghanaian woman to win a university merit scholarship, the second female doctor in Ghana and the fourth West African woman to train as a physician.[5][7]
After Achimota, Savage went back to the colonial medical service and was given a better concession, in charge of the infant welfare clinics, associated with Korle Bu Hospital in Accra. Concurrently, she was appointed the assistant medical officer to the maternity department of the hospital and warden of the nurses' hostel. At Korle-Bu, she supervised the establishment of a training school for nurses, Korle-Bu Nurses Training College, where a ward was named in her honour.[2][3]
Death
Savage retired relatively early due to "physical and psychological exhaustion" in 1947 and spent the remainder of her life in Scotland raising her niece and nephew. She died of a stroke in 1964, aged 58.[6]
See also
References
- ^ "Deaths". The Times. 10 September 1964. p. 1.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Mitchell, Henry (November 2016). "Dr Agnes Yewande Savage – West Africa's First Woman Doctor (1906–1964)". Centre of African Studies. Archived from the original on 14 April 2019.
- ^ a b c d "CAS Students to Lead Seminar on University's African Alumni, Pt. IV: Agnes Yewande Savage". CAS from the Edge. 16 November 2016. Archived from the original on 14 April 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- ^ PMID 11617203.
- ^ a b c "Agnes Yewande Savage (1906 – 1964)". The University of Edinburgh. Archived from the original on 24 November 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
- ^ S2CID 53713242.
- ^ ISBN 9780813014326.
- ^ "Agnes Yewande Savage – 1929 – UncoverED". Archived from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
- ^ Vieta, K. T. (1999). The Flagbearers of Ghana: Profiles of one hundred distinguished Ghanaians. Accra, Ghana: Ena Pubs.