BUILDING THE NATION THROUGH WOMEN'S HEALTH: MODERN ...

future, since one-third of present medical students are women and 50 percent of residents
training in obstetrics and gynecology are women.” 467 Women in the United States as midwives
and even as physicians were excluded from being fully accepted into their professions.
In China, the professional medical associations attempted to monopolize their power by
drawing distinctions between educated medical personnel and uneducated quacks through
licensing and membership restrictions. Governments backed these organizations because of the
importance of public health and sanitation, especially during periods of epidemics. Chinese
professional associations were sanctioned by and worked closely with the Republican
government in legislating licensing and membership restrictions, and in public health and
sanitation efforts. 468 Furthermore, midwifery and nursing associations created forums for
discussing and organizing around political and social issues, published journals that promoted
their profession, and established and oversaw educational programs. The discussion of Chinese
organizations can be supplemented with data from the national Chinese Medical Association and
the Nurses’ Association of China, both founded by Westerners but later taken over by Chinese
physicians and nurses. These national groups served as models for the local ones, and by their
association helped to improve the standing of midwifery and nursing.
Many graduates of PUMC became leaders of the Chinese Medical Association. This
group was a merger of the Western-run China Medical Association, originally formed in 1886 as
the Chinese Medical Missionary Association, and the Chinese-led National Medical Association
of China. In 1932, these two organizations joined to form the Chinese Medical Association. By
this time, most of its leaders and members were Chinese, either medical scientists or public
health physicians, many trained at PUMC. Its membership grew to 1,700 members by 1935. In
467 Taylor, History of the American Gynecological Society, 28.
468 Rogaski, Hygienic Modernity, Yip, Health and National Reconstruction.
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