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Abstract Details

Dr. Betty G. Clements: Breaking Gender Barriers in the Air Force and Neurology
Research Methodology, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­, and History
S17 - History of Neurology (4:40 PM-4:48 PM)
005

To examine the life experiences of Betty G. Clements, first female neurology resident to train at Mayo Clinic. 

Prior to neurology training, Dr. Clements served in World War II as a Women Airforce Service Pilot (WASP) and in the American Red Cross.

Review of historical records through the Nebraska State Historical Society and Mayo Clinic.

Betty G. Clements was born in 1918 in Elmwood, Nebraska and graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1939. After working as a physical education teacher, she was accepted as WASP of the Army Air Forces in March 1943 and served in World War II as a pilot ferrying personnel and equipment until December 1944, including missions related to the atomic bomb experiment. Following WWII, she served the American Red Cross in the Philippines where she cared for patients with Hansen’s disease (leprosy). She completed medical school at the University of Nebraska with a dissertation on Hansen’s disease. After internship, she was accepted for neurology training at Mayo Clinic from 1954-1958. She fostered an interest in EEG and published a variety of manuscripts, including on gelastic epilepsy and exercise in Parkinson’s disease. Following postgraduate training at Queen Square, she became the first full-time neurologist and electroencephalographer at Barrow Neurological Institute.  Her many professional memberships included the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­, Royal Society of Medicine, American EEG Society and Osler Club of Phoenix. In Arizona, she continued to fly “whenever the opportunity presented itself”. At the age of 42, she was diagnosed with carcinoma and died on July 17, 1965, at age 47, bequeathing her neurologic library to Barrow Neurological Institute.     

Dr. Clements’ experiences as a WASP prepared her way in medicine, as the first neurology resident to train at Mayo Clinic and a founder of Barrow Neurological Institute.

Authors/Disclosures
Elizabeth A. Coon, MD, FÂ鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ (Mayo Clinic)
PRESENTER 		Dr. Coon has received publishing royalties from a publication relating to health care. Dr. Coon has a non-compensated relationship as a Non-Voting Member of the Board of Directors with UCNS that is relevant to Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ interests or activities.
Christopher J. Boes, MD, FÂ鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ (Mayo Clinic) Dr. Boes has a non-compensated relationship as a Review Committee for Neurology member with ACGME that is relevant to Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ interests or activities.