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{{short description|Indian obstetrician and gynaecologist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox medical person|honorific_prefix=
|name=Dossibai Patell
|birth_name = Dossibai Rustomji Cowasji Patell
|honorific_suffix=[[Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire|MBE]], [[Doctor of Medicine|MD]], [[Membership of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom|MRCP]]
|image=Dossibai Patell.jpg
|image_size=
|alt=
|caption=Dossibai Patell, {{circa|1912}}.<ref name="RCSEng"/>
|birth_date= {{birth date|1881|10|16|df=yes}}
|birth_place=Navsara Chambers, [[Fort Bombay]]
|death_date= {{death date and age|1960|2|4|1881|10|16|df=yes}}
|death_place=
|death_cause=
|citizenship=
|education=[[Grant Medical College]]
|occupation=
|years_active=|known_for=First woman to become Member of the [[Royal College of Surgeons|RCS]] in 1910
|relations=
|website=
|profession=Physician
|field=
|work_institutions=
|specialism=Obstetrics and gynaecology
|research_field=
|notable_works=
|prizes=
|child=
|module2=
|signature=
}}
'''Dossibai Rustomji Cowasji Patell''' [[Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire|MBE]], [[Membership of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom|MRCP]] (16 October 1881 – 4 February 1960), later known as '''Dossibai Jehangir Ratenshaw Dadabhoy''', was an Indian [[obstetrician]] and [[gynaecologist]], who in 1910 became the first woman to become a member of the [[Royal College of Surgeons of England]] (RCS).

After completing initial medical training in India, she spent six years in London studying for the [[Membership of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland|MRCS (Eng)]], [[LRCP]], [[Membership of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom|MRCP]], [[MB BS]] and finally [[Doctor of Medicine|MD]].

Upon return to India, she established a career in obstetrics and gynaecology, advocated maternal and child welfare centres and petitioned for reducing infant mortality. In this role, she became active in a variety of societies, becoming the president of first the Bombay Obstetric and Gynaecological Society and later of the Association of Medical Women in India.

The Dossibai J. R. Dadabhoy oration is given in her memory.

==Early life==
Dossibai Patell was born on 16 October 1881 to a wealthy [[Parsi]] family<ref name=Chapter8/>
and attended [[Girton High School|Miss Moos School for Girls]] in Bombay (now Mumbai).<ref name=JOGI2000>{{Cite journal |date=October 2000 |title=Dossibai J. R. Dadabhoy |url=https://www.jogi.co.in/articles/files/filebase/Archives/2000/oct/2000_40_Oct.pdf |url-status= |journal=The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of India |volume=50 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260102182837/https://www.jogi.co.in/articles/files/filebase/Archives/2000/oct/2000_40_Oct.pdf |archive-date=2 January 2026 |access-date=2 January 2026}}</ref>

Patell came from Navsara Chambers, [[Fort Bombay]], India.<ref name=RCPList>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/b24990796_0072/b24990796_0072_djvu.txt|title=Full text of "A list of the fellows, members, extra-licentiates and licentiates of the Royal College of Physicians of London, 1859-[1986]|website=archive.org|access-date=26 October 2018}}</ref> In 1903, she completed her medical training at [[Grant Medical College]], Bombay,<ref name=JOGI2000/> from where she gained her Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery.<ref name=Murray2017>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_qLZDQAAQBAJ&q=parsi+women+1910+member+royal+college&pg=PT550|title=The Englishwoman's Review of Social and Industrial Questions: 1909-1910|last1=Murray|first1=Janet Horowitz|last2=Stark|first2=Myra|date=2017|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781315394923|language=en}}</ref> She then assisted Sir [[Temulji Bhicaji Nariman|Temulji Nariman]] and Dr. Masina in Bombay before persuading her parents to allow her to study abroad.<ref name=Chapter8/>

==Life in London==
Patell spent four years studying at the [[Royal Free Hospital]] (London School of Medicine for Women) <ref>name=Murray2017</ref> and in May 1910, became the first woman to become a member (MRCS) of the Royal College of Surgeons,<ref name="RCSEng">{{Cite web |last=Gibbs |first=Sophie |title=International Women's Day 2016 |url=https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/library-and-publications/library/blog/international-womens-day-2016/ |access-date=26 October 2018 |website=Royal College of Surgeons |language=en}}</ref><ref name="UM">{{Cite web|url=https://dentistry.um.edu.my/mainpage.php?module=Maklumat&kategori=46&id=345&papar=1|title=Welcome to Malaysia's Premier Dental School {{!}} Faculty of Dentistry|website=dentistry.um.edu.my|access-date=26 October 2018|archive-date=27 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181027021649/https://dentistry.um.edu.my/mainpage.php?module=Maklumat&kategori=46&id=345&papar=1|url-status=dead}}</ref> four years after women were allowed to sit the MRCS exam.<ref name="RCSHistory">{{Cite web|url=https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/about-the-rcs/history-of-the-rcs/|title=History of the RCS — Royal College of Surgeons|website=Royal College of Surgeons|language=en-GB|access-date=26 October 2018}}</ref> In the same year she became the first woman licentiate (LRCP) of the [[Royal College of Physicians]] (RCP).<ref name="Gifford">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G21nAAAAMAAJ&q=dossibai+patel|title=The golden thread: Asian experiences of post-Raj Britain|last=Gifford|first=Zerbanoo|date=1991-03-01|publisher=Pandora Press|isbn=9780044406051|language=en}}</ref><ref name="BenBrothers1911">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xGY-AQAAMAAJ&q=parsee|title=Chemist and Druggist|date=1911|publisher=Benn Brothers|language=en}}</ref><ref name="O’Sullivan2018">{{Cite journal|last=O'Sullivan|first=Suzanne|date=September 2018|title=Women in medicine: deeds not words|url=https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)32256-6/fulltext?rss=yes|journal=The Lancet|language=en|volume=392|issue=10152|pages=1002–1003|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32256-6|s2cid=54398530|issn=0140-6736|url-access=subscription}}{{subscription required}}</ref> She also became a Bachelor of Medicine<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.archive.org/details/historicalrecord00univrich/page/261/1up?view=theater |title=University of London Historical Record 1836 - 1912 |date=7 November 2023 |page=261 }}</ref> and Bachelor of Surgery<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.archive.org/details/historicalrecord00univrich/page/272/1up?view=theater |title=Historical Record of the University of London 1836 - 1912 |date=7 November 2023 |page=272}}</ref> (MB BS) of the University of London in 1910. In 1911 she became a member of the RCP,<ref name="BMJ1911">{{Cite journal|date=1911-05-06|title=Admitted Members of the College|url=https://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=PMC2333432&blobtype=pdf|journal=British Medical Journal|volume=1|issue=2627|pages=1090|issn=0007-1447|pmc=2333432}}</ref> three years after women were permitted to sit its exam and one year after [[Ivy Evelyn Woodward]] became the first woman member of the college.<ref name="MRCPUK">{{Cite web|url=https://www.mrcpuk.org/about-us/development-exams/past|title=Past {{!}} MRCPUK|website=www.mrcpuk.org|language=en|access-date=27 October 2018}}</ref><ref name="RCPMembers">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/b24990796_0072|title=A list of the fellows, members, extra-licentiates and licentiates of the Royal College of Physicians of London, 1859-[1986]|last=Royal College of Physicians of London|date=1859|publisher=London : Royal College of Physicians of London|others=London Royal College of Physicians}}</ref>

She completed her [[Doctor of Medicine]] degree (MD) at the [[London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine|London School of Tropical Medicine]] in 1912,<ref name="BritishHistory">{{Cite web|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/london-university-graduates/pp366-381|title=Index of Graduates by Surname: D {{!}} British History Online|website=www.british-history.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=27 October 2018}}</ref> the first Indian woman to do so.<ref name=Women1935>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cSWaDQAAQBAJ&q=Dossibai+Dadabhoy&pg=PT257|title=Women of India|last=Division|first=Publications|date=1935|publisher=Publications Division Ministry of Information & Broadcasting|isbn=9788123022840|language=en}}</ref>

==Career==
[[File:Dossibai Patell amidst a group at the London School of Tropical Medicine c. 1912.jpg|thumb|Dossibai Patell amidst a group at the London School of Tropical Medicine, c. 1912<ref name="RCSEng"/>]]
[[File:Cama Hospital.jpg|thumb|Cama Hospital]]
Upon return to India in 1912, as Dossibai Jehangir Ratenshaw Dadabhoy<ref name="BritishHistory"/><ref name=Clark1972>{{Cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z0hrAAAAMAAJ&q=patell+|title=A history of the Royal College of Physicians of London|last1=Clark|first1=Sir George Norman|last2=Cooke|first2=A. M.|journal=British Medical Journal|volume=1|issue=5427|pages=79–82|date=1972|publisher=Clarendon Press for the Royal College of Physicians|language=en|pmid=14218483|pmc=2165065|doi=10.1136/bmj.1.5427.79}}</ref><ref name=BMJ1931>{{Cite journal|date=1931|title=The Medical Register: Untraceable Practitioners|journal=The British Medical Journal|volume=2|issue=3690|pages=188–191|jstor=25340841}}{{subscription required}}</ref> she began a career in obstetrics and gynaecology, taking a particular interest in gynaecological malignancies. As a result, she was the first person in India to purchase, possess<ref name=JOGI2000/> and distribute [[radium]].<ref name=Chapter8>{{Cite book|url=http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/161225/14/14_chapter%208.pdf|title=Chapter VIII Contribution of Women Physicians to Women's Health Care|year=2008}}</ref>

In 1924, she presented a paper on infant mortality, stating her opinion that more than two thirds of infant deaths were preventable and petitioned for reducing these fatalities. She also considered maternal mortality and advocated supervision throughout pregnancy and childbirth and the forming of maternal and child welfare centres.<ref name=Ramanna2002>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NsGG0s_HxH0C&q=J.R.+Dadabhoy&pg=PA204|title=Western Medicine and Public Health in Colonial Bombay, 1845-1895|last=Ramanna|first=Mridula|publisher=Orient Longmann|year=2002|isbn=978-81-250-2302-9|pages=204|language=en}}</ref>

During the [[Second World War]], she served in the Bombay Branch of the [[Indian Red Cross Society|Red Cross Society]].<ref name=JOGI2000/> She was made [[Member of the Order of the British Empire|MBE]] on 1 January 1941.<ref name="IndiaOffice1945">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.282202|title=The India Office And Burma Office List 1945|last=London His Majesty’s Stationery Office}}</ref><ref name=IndianGazettte1941>{{Cite journal|s2cid=26635852|date=February 1941|title=The Indian Honours List|journal=The Indian Medical Gazette|pages=116| volume=s3-4| doi=10.1136/bmj.s3-4.172.322}}</ref>

She co-founded the [[Bombay Obstetric and Gynaecological Society]], becoming its honorary joint secretary and later its president. She worked to establish other such societies across India which came together to form the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India, of which she also became president.<ref name=JOGI2000/>

In 1955, she presided over the eighth [[All India Obstetrics and Gynaecological Congress]]. As president of the [[Association of Medical Women in India]] between 1937 and 1947, she served on the Bhore Committee between 1942 and 1946, dealing with health development.<ref name=Chapter8/><ref name=JOGI2000/>

She was also honorary consulting surgeon at the [[Cama Hospital|Cama]] and lbless Hospitals.<ref name=IndianGazettte1941/>

Mrs Dadabhoy was the first Indian woman to be elected a Fellow of the University of Bombay. She was made a Justice of the Peace (J.P.) in Bombay.<ref>{{ cite web |url=http://in.ernet.dli.2015.523178.page/n262/mode/1up |title=Indian Who's Who 1937 - 38 |date=1937 |page=186}}{{dead link|date=May 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

==Death and legacy==
She died on 4 February 1960.<ref name=JOGI2000/> The [[Dossibai J. R. Dadabhoy oration]] is given in her memory.<ref name=Purandare2012>{{Cite journal|last1=Purandare|first1=C. N.|last2=Patel|first2=Madhuri A.|last3=Balsarkar|first3=Geetha|date=June 2012|title=Indian Contribution to Obstetrics and Gynecology|journal=Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of India|volume=62|issue=3|pages=266–267|doi=10.1007/s13224-012-0270-5|issn=0971-9202|pmc=3444562|pmid=23730027}}</ref>

In 2018, Patell, along with the RCP's first female member, [[Ivy Evelyn Woodward]], featured in the RCP's 500 year celebratory exhibition "This Vexed Question: 500 years of women in medicine".<ref name="RCP2018">{{Cite web|url=https://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/news/exploring-vexing-case-medical-women-history|title=Exploring the vexing case of medical women in history|date=2018-09-17|website=RCP London|access-date=19 January 2019}}</ref>

==Selected publications==
* "Infant Mortality, its causes and how to Remedy it" in ''Report of the All India Social Service Conference''. Bombay: Servants of India Society, 1924. pp. 65–75.
*[http://jogi.co.in/articles/articles.php?action=view&row=79&x=X "Critical Analysis of 669 Caesarian Sections in the Nowrosji Wadi Maternity Hospital, Bombay"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181030091359/http://jogi.co.in/articles/articles.php?action=view&row=79&x=X |date=30 October 2018 }}, ''[[Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of India]]'', Vol. IV, No. 2, December 1953.
*[http://jogi.co.in/articles/articles.php?action=view&row=180&x=X "Presidential Address"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181030091135/http://jogi.co.in/articles/articles.php?action=view&row=180&x=X |date=30 October 2018 }}, at the 8th All India Obstetrics & Gynaecology Congress, ''Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of India'', Vol. V, No. 4, June 1955.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* [https://archive.org/details/b24990796_0072/page/52%7C A List of the Fellows, Members, Extra-licentiates and licentiates of the Royal College of Physicians of London, 1859-1986], by Royal College of Physicians of London.
*[http://www.mumbaidp24seven.in/reference/Report_of_the_Health_Survey_&_Development_Committee_Vol_I_bhore_committtee_report.pdf "Bhore Report": Report of the Health Survey and Development].

== External links ==
* {{commons category-inline|Dossibai Patell}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Indian obstetricians]]
[[Category:Medical doctors from Mumbai]]
[[Category:Alumni of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:1881 births]]
[[Category:1960 deaths]]
[[Category:Parsi people]]
[[Category:Parsi people from Mumbai]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian medical doctors]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal College of Physicians]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal College of Surgeons of England]]
[[Category:Medical doctors from British India]]
[[Category:Expatriates from British India in the United Kingdom]]

Dossibai Patell - Revision history

KelseyMarsden6: created a pg