Jean White (physician)

StateLibQld 2 185175 Members of the Royal Flying Doctor Service and friends picnicking at Cloncurry, 1937

Salome Jean White (1905 – 15 July 1974) was the first female flying medical doctor in Australia and the world when she commenced work with the Australian Inland Mission in May 1937.[1][2][3][4] She was known as the Guardian Angel of the Gulf.[5][6]

Early life and education

Salome Jean White was born in 1905. Her parents were John White ( - 26 January 1935), a school teacher, and Salome White (née Williams) ( - 15 June 1951) of 32 Havelock Road, Hawthorn. The family also owned a farm near Ballarat. She was the elder sister to John George Glyn White CBE (9 April 1909 - 2 November 1987) and Mary Margaret Freda White (later Guest), both of whom were also doctors.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13]

White attended Melbourne High School and received a scholarship to attend University of Melbourne, where she graduated in 1929 with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery.[14][15]

Career

She worked at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Adelaide Children's Hospital, Crown Street Women's Hospital and Caulfield Convalescent Hospital before responding to an advertisement for doctors to work in remote areas of Australia.[16][17][18]

She undertook four months of training at Cloncurry before being based with one nurse at Normanton. Together, with a pilot flying an aircraft donated by Qantas, they offered a seven-day aerial medical service covering 65,000 square miles of the Gulf Country.[19][20][21][22][23] From September 1938, White was also supervising a newly opened nursing hospital at Dunbar Station.[24]

References

  1. ^ Persson, Sheryl (2007). The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia: Pioneering Commitment, Courage and Success. Exisle Publishing Limited. p. 60. ISBN 9780908988198.
  2. ^ Rudolph, Ivan (2012). John Flynn: of Flying Doctors and Frontier Faith (Third ed.). Boolarong Press. ISBN 9781922109255.
  3. ^ "Jean White". National Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  4. ^ "GOSSIP". Smith's Weekly. Vol. XIX, no. 11. New South Wales, Australia. 15 May 1937. p. 15. Retrieved 26 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "Guardian Angel of Gulf Country". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 31, 544. New South Wales, Australia. 6 February 1939. p. 5 (Women's Supplement). Retrieved 26 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "GUARDIAN ANGEL OF THE GULF COUNTRY". The Advocate (Australia). Tasmania, Australia. 17 March 1939. p. 4. Retrieved 26 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "OBITUARY". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 27, 595. Victoria, Australia. 28 January 1935. p. 6. Retrieved 26 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "DR. JEAN WHITE". The Age. No. 25, 674. Victoria, Australia. 30 July 1937. p. 7. Retrieved 26 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ Elder, David F. "John George Glyn White". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  10. ^ "Family Notices". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 32, 694. Victoria, Australia. 16 June 1951. p. 19. Retrieved 27 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ "Advertising". The Age. No. 30, 007. Victoria, Australia. 2 July 1951. p. 10. Retrieved 27 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ "Advertising". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 27, 598. Victoria, Australia. 31 January 1935. p. 17. Retrieved 27 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ^ "Advertising". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 28, 518. Victoria, Australia. 15 January 1938. p. 19. Retrieved 27 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ^ "University of Melbourne Annual Report 1928-1929" (PDF). University of Melbourne. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  15. ^ "43 NEW DOCTORS". The Herald. No. 16, 327. Victoria, Australia. 16 September 1929. p. 5. Retrieved 26 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. ^ "FIRST WOMAN "FLYING DOCTOR."". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 31, 068. New South Wales, Australia. 30 July 1937. p. 12. Retrieved 26 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. ^ "Australia's First and Only Woman Flying Doctor". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 5, no. 10. Australia. 14 August 1937. p. 45. Retrieved 26 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  18. ^ "DR. JEAN WHITE Says". The Courier-mail. No. 1434. Queensland, Australia. 6 April 1938. p. 1 (Second Section.). Retrieved 26 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  19. ^ "Guardian Angel of Gulf Country". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 31, 544. New South Wales, Australia. 6 February 1939. p. 5 (Women's Supplement). Retrieved 28 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  20. ^ "WOMAN FLYING DOCTOR". The Telegraph. Queensland, Australia. 29 July 1937. p. 18 (SECOND EDITION). Retrieved 26 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  21. ^ "FIRST WOMAN FLYING DOCTOR". The Evening News. No. 4697. Queensland, Australia. 30 July 1937. p. 7. Retrieved 26 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  22. ^ "PERSONAL". Townsville Daily Bulletin. Vol. LXI, no. 6. Queensland, Australia. 7 January 1939. p. 6. Retrieved 26 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  23. ^ "LEGALLY QUALIFIED MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS". Government Gazette Of The State Of New South Wales. No. 93. New South Wales, Australia. 15 July 1932. p. 2363. Retrieved 26 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  24. ^ "Transport Equals Building Price". The Courier-mail. No. 1562. Queensland, Australia. 3 September 1938. p. 9. Retrieved 28 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.