Iza Frances Josephine Coghlan MBBS ChM (10 October 1868 – 1 July 1946) was an Australian medical doctor. With Grace Boelke, she was one of the first two female graduates in medicine from the University of Sydney.
Iza Coghlan MBBS ChM | |
|---|---|
 Iza Coghlan in 1906 | |
| Born | 10 October 1868 Redfern, New South Wales |
| Died | 1 July 1946 (aged 77) Collaroy, New South Wales |
| Occupation | Medical doctor |
Biography
editCoghlan was born in Redfern, a suburb of Sydney, in 1868, to Irish immigrant parents.[1] Her father, Thomas Coghlan, a plasterer, died when Iza was 13.[2] She received a scholarship to attend Sydney Girls High School when it opened in 1883.[3] She enrolled at the University of Sydney in 1887 and was the sole woman in the year's intake of medical students. In 1897, she graduated with a bachelor of medicine and a master of surgery, making her one of the first female graduates in medicine in the state of New South Wales, along with Grace Boelke.[1][2]
Coghlan established a private practice in Sydney in 1893 and began working as a life insurance medical assessor in 1894. From 1910, she medically examined candidates seeking employment in the federal public service, and from 1915 she worked as a medical officer in the NSW Department of Public Instruction. She was a co-founder and president of the NSW Medical Women's Society and worked with St John Ambulance Australia to give lectures on first aid and home nursing.[1]
She never married, and retired in 1930 to live with two of her sisters in Collaroy in northern Sydney.[1] She died on 1 July 1946 from coronary heart disease.[2] She had eight siblings, including the statistician and engineer Timothy Augustine Coghlan, the lawyer Charles Coghlan, and the politician Cecil Coghlan.[1][4]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Fox, Karen. "Iza Frances Coghlan (1868–1946)". National Centre of Biography. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
- ^ a b c Witton, Vanessa (2020). "Dr Iza Coghlan". Dictionary of Sydney. State Library of New South Wales. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
- ^ "History of Sydney Girls High School". Sydney Girls High School. Retrieved 2023-11-26.
- ^ Heffernan, Elizabeth (14 February 2020). "Iza Coghlan (1868-1946)". Royal Australian Historical Society. Retrieved 25 November 2023.