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Profession and Gender; controlling the lady doctor.
In March, 1903, Dr. Alice Sibree was appointed the Lady Doctor in charge of the new AMMH. Dr. Sibree was a licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh. 19 She had studied at the London School of Medicine for Women and had received special training in obstetrics and gynecology, particularly at the Rotunda Lying-in Hospital. 2 At the time of her appointment, she was 27 years old and engaged to be married to a Mr. Wright, who was working in Rangoon. Her father was an LMS missionary, stationed in Madagascar, and she appears to have been well connected with the LMS hierarchy in London, regularly, in her correspondence with the LMS Joint Foreign Secretary, Mr. Cousins, including regards to his wife. With her appointment, the Chinese subscribers handed over their money and building proceeded.
The appointment desired by the LMS Hong Kong District Committee was quite specific. The Lady Doctor must.
1 have had a thorough training, specially in Midwifery and Diseases of Women
2 have a good knowledge of Children's Diseases
3 be a Lady willing to do visiting to attend cases in their own homes
4 be a lady willing to teach and train native women in western methods of midwifery
5 be a Lady Doctor to work exclusively among women and children
6 be a Lady who is willing to act under the medical Superintendent 21
These terms clearly limited her sphere of practice and defined her subordinate relationship to Dr. Gibson. They were apparently unacceptable to London. In response to a query from Mr. Cousins, Dr. Gibson declared that he 'did not think of the Lady Doctor either as a subordinate or an assistant and had no other thought than that she should be a member of the DC. & have the full status of a missionary' 22. On exactly what terms Dr. Sibree agreed to the appointment is not indicated, nor is what she knew of Hong Kong and its cultural nuances. In the event, her relationship to Dr. Gibson and her sphere of practice became and remained sources of conflict during her five years' contract.