Meltem Zeytinoglu

Meltem Zeytinoglu

Medical Student Section Representative
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indiana University School of Medicine

During 1898’s Spanish-American War, the single woman permitted to serve as an army officer was Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee who became the U.S. Army’s Assistant Surgeon General. She later became the “superior of nurses” in the Russo-Japanese War, taught at the University of California, and oversaw her son’s education. Around this time, Dr. Eliza Grier, an emancipated slave, became Georgia’s first African American woman licensed to practice medicine. She financed her medical education by alternating every year of school with a year of picking cotton.

Women have made tremendous strides, becoming the majority gender in many medical schools, climbing professional ranks, and frequently juggling roles of being ever-present mothers and spouses fully committed to their patients, practices, and communities. Nevertheless, a century later, the burdens of financing medical education, disproportionate levels of promotion to male counterparts, and the need for comprehensive healthcare reform including basic preventive services and greater access to care for every woman remain.

As a student, I’ve been honored to serve in our House of Delegates and on the Medical Student Section Governing Council where I’ve promoted our National Service Project: Covering the Uninsured and Protecting Access to Care. If privileged to serve on the WPC Governing Council, I would advocate for greater healthcare reform, encourage leadership of women physicians, and work towards easing the financial burden of medical education. In the spirit of those who have preceded me, I am humbled at the thought of continuing to fight their battles and graciously ask for your support.