Wilson, Gwenifer Catherine May (Gwen) (1916 - 1998)

Summary

Gwen Wilson was the first woman to earn an Australian Postgraduate Diploma in Anaesthesia. Her early career as anaesthetist was in suburban hospitals in Sydney. However, having been denied promotion because she was a woman, Wilson moved to St George Hospital, Sydney, where she remained for some years, ultimately as Honorary Consulting Anaesthetist. For over 30 years Wilson was Honorary Historian (later Historian Emeritus) to the Faculty of Anaesthetists of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and its succeeding organisation, the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists. Her Doctor of Medicine degree was the first awarded in Australia for history of medicine. Her many publications on the history of Australian anaesthesia include a bibliography which resulted from a rigorous examination of Australian medical literature, and histories of anaesthesia and its professional organisations in Australia.

Details

Chronology

1939 -

Career position - Resident Medical Officer, Balmain Hospital, Sydney

1939

Education - MB BS, University of Sydney

1945

Education - Diploma in Anaesthesia, University of Sydney

1948 - 1956

Career position - Honorary Anaesthetist, Balmain, Rachel Forster and Royal North Shore Hospitals, Sydney

1951 - 1956

Career position - Member of Executive Committee, Australian Society of Anaesthetists

1952 - 1956

Career position - Founding Member, Faculty of Anaesthetists, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons

1954 - 1956

Career position - Secretary, Australian Society of Anaesthetists

1956 - 1968

Career position - Honorary Anaesthetist, St George Hospital, Sydney

1956 - 1992

Career position - Fellow, Faculty of Anaesthetists, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons

1962 - 1992

Career position - Lecturer in History of Anaesthesia, Nuffield Department of Anaesthetics, University of Sydney

1966 - 1992

Career position - Honorary Historian, Faculty of Anaesthetists, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons

1968 - ?

Career position - Honorary Consultant Anaesthetist, St George Hospital, Sydney

1981

Life event - Retired

1987

Award - Gilbert Brown Award, Australian Society of Anaesthetists

1988

Award - Faculty Medal, Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists

1990

Award - Robert Orton Award, Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists

1992 - 1998

Career position - Honorary Historian (later Historian Emeritus), Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists

1992 - 1998

Career position - Fellow, Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists

1994

Education - MD, University of Sydney

1996

Award - Laureate of the History of Anesthesia, Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology, Schaumburg, Illinois, U.S.A.

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Wilson, Gwen, Fifty years: the Australian Society of Anaesthetists 1934 - 1984 (Edgecliffe, NSW: Australian Society of Anaesthetists, 1987), 502 pp. Details
• Wilson, Gwen, Bibliography of references to anaesthesia in Australian medical journals, 1846 - 1962 (Melbourne: Faculty of Anaesthetists, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, 1988), 481 pp. Details
• Wilson, Gwen, One Grand Chain: the History of Anaesthesia in Australia 1846-1962, vol. 2 (Melbourne: Australian & New Zealand College of Anaesthetists, 1996- 2004). Details

Book Sections

• Wilson, Gwen, 'The Faculty of Anaesthetists 1952 - 1956' in One grand chain: the history of anaesthesia in Australia 1846 - 1962, volume 2, 1834 - 1962, Wilson, Gwen, ed. (Melbourne: Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists, 2004), pp. 231-308. Details
• Wilson, Gwen, 'The Faculty of Anaesthetists 1957 - 1962' in One grand chain: the history of anaesthesia in Australia 1846 - 1962, volume 2, 1834 - 1962, Wilson, Gwen, ed. (Melbourne: Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists, 2004), pp. 311-74. Details
• Wilson, Gwen, 'The Australian Society of Anaesthetists' in One grand chain: the history of anaesthesia in Australia 1846 - 1962, volume 2, 1834 - 1962, Wilson, Gwen, ed. (Melbourne: Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists, 2004), pp. 1-40. Details

Journal Articles

• Cooper, Michael G., 'A woman of history: Gwenifer Wilson. 1916 - 1998 M.B.B.S. (Sydney). D.A. (Sydney), F.F.A.R.A.C.S., F.A.N.Z.C.A., M.D.', Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, 27 (1) (1999), 110-1. Details
• Greene, Nicholas M., 'Dr Gwenifer Wilson, first Laureate of the history of anesthesia', Anesthesiology, 85 (1996), 703-5. Details
• Wilson, G., 'Faculty of Anaesthetists, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons: foundation and progress', Medical Journal of Australia, 1977 (1) (1977), 738-42. Details
• Wilson, G., 'The Pioneering Anaestheists of Australia', Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, 7 (4) (1979), 311-321. Details
• Wilson, G., 'The First Anaesthetics in Australia: an Historical Update', Medical Journal of Australia, 157 (1992), 781-784. Details
• Wilson, G., 'Dr Mary Taylor Burnell', Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, 24 (1996), 721-3. Details
• Wilson, Gwen, 'Janet Lindsay Greig: a Pioneer', Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, 13 (4) (1985), 420-428. Details
• Wilson, Gwen, 'Benjamin Archer Kent: a South Australian Pioneer', Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, 15 (1987), 451-458. Details
• Wilson, Gwen, 'Obituary; Geoffrey Kaye, M.D. (Melb.), M.B.B.S., F.F.A.R.A.C.S. (Hon.), F.F.A.R.C.S., D.A.(R.C.P.&S.) 1903 - 1986', Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, 15 (1) (1987), 107-9. Details
• Wilson, Gwen and Cooper, Michael G., 'The Development of Anaesthesia in Australia, 1914-1994', Medical Journal of Australia, 161 (1) (1994), 29, 32-34. Details
• Wilson, Gwenifer C. M., 'The tyrant overcome: a review of the history of anasethesia in Australia', Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, 1 (1972), 1-26. Details
• Wilson, Gwenifer C. M., 'The Introduction of Local Anaesthesia in Australia, January 19, 1885', Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, 13 (1) (1985), 71-78. Details
• Wilson, Gwenifer W., 'The tyrant overcome: a review of the history of anaesthesia in Australia', Anaesthesia and intensive care, 1 (1972), 9-27, https://doi.org/10.1177/0310057X7200100101. Details

Resources

• 'Wilson, Gwen (19161001-19981031)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-572617. Details

Theses

• Wilson, Gwenifer C. M., 'The history of anaesthesia in Australia, 1846 - 1962', M.D, University of Sydney, 1994. Details