Katie Ardill

Katie Louisa Ardill, MB ChM (3 August 1886 – 3 January 1955) was an Australian medical doctor. She was the first woman to be appointed as a divisional surgeon in New South Wales, and a year later was among the first female doctors when she joined the British Expeditionary Forces in Egypt in 1915.

Early life and education

Born in Chippendale, a suburb in inner Sydney, to two evangelist social workers, George Edward Ardill, an Australian politician, and Louisa Ardill née Wales, a matron-superintendent of the Home of Hope hospital which was eventually renamed the South Sydney Women's hospital. Schooled at Wellesley College, Ardill graduated from University of Sydney on 9 April 1913 with a degree in medicine.

Career

In 1913, Ardill completed a one-year internship at the Prince Alfred Hospital and served as an honorary anaesthetist and out-patients medical officer at the South Sydney Women's Hospital. During that year she began working as a lecturer and an examiner of first aid and Home Nursing Classes at the St. John Ambulance Association's Training Branch, and joined the St John Ambulance Brigade Headquarters Nursing Division a year later.

World War I service

Ardill served as a doctor for four years during World War I, respectively in Britain, France and Egypt. Her application to serve with the Australian Expeditionary Forces was rejected because she was a woman. At that time, Australian government policy prohibited women from service, compelling them to join overseas units instead.