The Women Who Advanced Patient-Centered Care
March is Women’s History Month, a time to celebrate the contributions of influential women in modern healthcare. From nursing and emergency response, to research and specialized medicine, women have shaped who practices medicine and how it's delivered today.
Innovators in patient assessment
Long before advanced imaging and digital diagnostics, clinicians relied on careful listening to patients, their symptoms, and subtle body signals. Over time, this skill has become a more precise science. Women have been key to this progress, opening up opportunities in medicine and deepening our understanding of it. From battlefield medicine to pediatric cardiology and expanding national prevention guidelines, women have shaped how clinicians listen and deliver comprehensive care.
Clara Barton: Steady care in critical moments
Clara Barton was one of the first women to provide direct medical care on the battlefields of the American Civil War, bringing supplies and tending to wounded soldiers when organized nursing systems were still developing. Her calm presence and dedication to caring for patients in the most difficult conditions earned her the nickname “Angel of the Battlefield.”
After the war, Barton continued her commitment to improving care by founding the American Red Cross in 1881. As its first president, she helped establish organized systems for disaster relief and emergency medical support, expanding how healthcare could reach people in moments of crisis. Her work showed how compassion, careful observation, and decisive action can transform patient care when it’s needed most.1
Helen Brooke Taussig: Shaping pediatric cardiology
Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig helped create pediatric cardiology as a separate medical specialty when treatment options for children with congenital heart defects were scarce. She started the pediatric cardiology clinic at Johns Hopkins in 1930, and her research played a key role in developing the Blalock–Taussig shunt in 1944. This breakthrough greatly improved survival for infants with cyanotic congenital heart defects.
Working decades before modern imaging technologies, Taussig relied on careful physical exams and close attention to heart sounds and patient symptoms to guide care. Even as progressive hearing loss affected her later in life, she continued her work by feeling heart vibrations and studying patient findings with remarkable precision.
Today, advances in digital amplification and AI-supported auscultation help clinicians detect subtle heart sounds more clearly, extending the tradition of careful listening and clinical insight that Taussig helped define in cardiovascular medicine.2
Nanette Wenger: Redefining women’s health with wider research
Dr. Nanette Kass Wenger helped transform how cardiovascular disease in women is understood and treated. One of the first women to graduate from Harvard Medical School and later the first woman chief resident at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, Wenger built a pioneering career in cardiology and became a leading advocate for women’s heart health.
At a time when most cardiovascular research focused on men, Wenger pushed the medical community to better understand how heart disease affects women. Through her research, teaching, and leadership, she championed the inclusion of women in clinical trials and helped advance prevention strategies tailored to women’s risks and life stages.
Today, heart disease remains the leading cause of death for women in the United States, accounting for about one in three deaths. Wenger’s advocacy helped ensure women’s heart health became a priority in cardiovascular research, prevention, and clinical care.3
From careful listening to clinical precision
As medicine evolves, so do the tools clinicians use to understand the body. Technologies like AI-supported stethoscopes can help clinicians detect disease earlier and make more informed decisions in real time.
But innovation in healthcare has always been driven by people. The women who helped shape modern medicine — through careful observation, research, and patient care — expanded what clinicians could see, hear, and understand about disease.
During Women’s History Month, their stories remind us that progress in healthcare is built step by step, through dedication, discovery, and a commitment to better patient care. Today’s innovations continue that work, helping clinicians carry forward the legacy these pioneers helped create.
References
1. “Clara Barton: Visionary Leader and Founder of the American Red Cross.” About Clara Barton | Red Cross Founder | American Red Cross. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
2. “Biography: Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig.” U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
3. “Nanette Kass Wenger, MD, MACC: Lifetime Achievement Awardee.” American College of Cardiology. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
