Many Ascham Old Girls have been the first women to be recognised with distinction in their fields. Dr Joan Storey was one, when she became the first woman to receive the University Medal for Medicine in 1944 at the University of Sydney.
Joan’s distinguished career in gynaecology and obstetrics reflected her academic brilliance, which began during her earliest years at Ascham. Born in 1921, Joan lived in Double Bay and attended Ascham from the age of six. In an oral history recorded with her in 2009, just two months before she died, Joan fondly remembered being driven to School each day by her father, who ran a general practice on Macquarie Street.
Throughout her schooling at Ascham, Joan’s Headmistress was Miss Margaret Bailey. Joan remembered Miss Bailey as ‘a liberal and kind disciplinarian’ and commended her advocacy for students. Joan won academic awards every year; her name can be seen on numerous Honour Boards in Glenrock. So when it came time to matriculate, Miss Bailey and staff helped Joan secure an ‘exhibition grant’ (scholarship) to study at university, which paid for her tuition.
Joan credited both of her parents with encouraging a medical career. But it was her mother whose inspiration truly encouraged her ambition. Joan’s mother was a nurse and told her that if she had the same opportunity as Joan when she was training, she would have become a doctor. So Joan reconsidered her plan to study nursing, and chose medicine instead—the perfect pathway for her mind and ambition. Early on she worked alongside her father and brother David, as one of the first female resident Medical Officers and House Surgeons at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
Joan’s niece Dr Cate Storey OAM, a retired neurologist and honorary associate professor at Sydney University, shared with us just how determined Joan was and the ongoing impact of her role modelling:
‘Joan and many of her generation led the way for women in medicine; she had many hurdles to overcome on her path. She topped her year and was awarded the University Medal yet had difficulty keeping her position as a resident medical officer when the men returned from the Second World War. She made her way to London, where she trained as an obstetrician and gynaecologist. Even upon her return to Sydney, she had difficulty securing positions at the major maternity hospitals, but she persevered and achieved her goals. Today, young ladies entering medicine should not experience these prejudices, thanks to those who have gone before.’
In 1948, Joan became a ship’s surgeon on the Port Lyttelton. As the maritime industry was so male-dominated, women did not normally work on ships. So, Joan registered her application under the name of John Storey. She secured the role and sailed to London! While working there, she continued her studies and was awarded the MRCOG for her speciality in women’s health.
Joan continued her training in several London hospitals before returning to Sydney to set up a general practice in Penshurst. Later in her career, she became the Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at St George Hospital and a Foundation Fellow of the RACOG.
Joan’s nephew David Storey told us: ‘Joan developed such a skill and experience in obstetrics that she was the person other colleagues called for when their patients were in trouble. Many women and babies owed their lives to the fact that Joan walked through the theatre or delivery-room door at the critical time.’
Even in retirement in her beloved Blue Mountains where she tended her prizewinning garden, Joan was dedicated to her community. She contributed to the Blackheath Horticultural Society and the Red Cross by baking cakes, making pickles and volunteering. Joan died in 2009 at the age of 87, with her memorial service held at the Blackheath Rhododendron Garden, a place she adored.
In an act of generosity and gratitude for the place of her education, Joan donated her University Medal for Medicine to the Ascham Archives. Also, on display in the University of Sydney’s School of Medicine Museum is Joan’s Globite case, which she carried everywhere until retirement. It is still filled with the medical and anaesthetic supplies she used to save lives and deliver babies safely. Both are now treasured reminders of an incredible Ascham alumna, whose remarkable career lay the foundations for generations of women after her to pursue a life in medicine.
Read our previous instalments of 14 Decades of Stories:
Pioneering feminist and first Ascham student Inez Bensusan
Brilliant scholar Ethel Lane Latham, who was the highest scoring female student in NSW in 1894 and 1895
Bessie Bundock, co-founder of Ascham’s yearbook, Charivari, which has become the School’s continuous primary historical record for over 120 years
Rania MacPhillamy MBE OBE who operated vast rest homes for wounded soldiers in Egypt during WWI
Mother and daughter Linda and Patricia Littlejohn, who smashed the glass ceiling in university and empowered women across society
Ascham Old Boy Lloyd Poulton, who was one of a handful of boys who were enrolled at Ascham early in the 20th century
