AMA Victoria has commenced submitting nominations for our Name A Place' Drive, giving members the chance to recognise and preserve the legacies of pioneering medical practitioners who have made significant contributions to healthcare.

Among our submitted nominations is Professor Priscilla Kincaid-Smith AC CBE to be included in Boroondara Council's name bank. Professor Kincaid-Smith was a trailblazing figure in Australian medical history and an internationally renowned specialist in kidney disease. Her groundbreaking research established the link between compound analgesics-such as Bex powder and Vincents powder-kidney damage, helping prevent renal failure for countless patients. As the first female professor at the University of Melbourne in 1975, she was also a mentor to many and a strong advocate for women in medicine.

We have also submitted a nomination for Dame Joyce Daws, the first female President of AMA Victoria, who was a trailblazing thoracic surgeon and a tireless advocate for advancing medical practice, supporting doctors and patients, and promoting women in medicine through her leadership of the Victorian Medical Women’s Society.

If any members wish to seek a letter of endorsement for a medical practitioner, please provide the nominee’s biography and your request to AMA Victoria at [email protected].

Separately, we are seeking member assistance in locating any living family members of the following practitioners who we are preparing to nominate:

• Lena McEwan
• Lorna Verdun Sisely
• Lilian Helen Alexander
• Constance Ellis
• Emily Mary Stone, (Grace) Clara Stone, (Emma) Constance Stone
• Margaret Whyte
• Grace Vale
• Elizabeth and Annie O’Hara
• Helen Sexton
• Amy de Castilla
• Gwen Wisewould
• Kate Campbell
• Isabella Younger Ross
• Annie Jean Macnamara
• Mary De Garis
• Mary Glowrey

If you have contact details for living family members, please let us know. (While the Name A Place initiative seeks the input of families, it is important to acknowledge that many notable medical women pioneers, such as Dame Joyce, did not have children for various reasons. Their significant contributions to healthcare deserve equal recognition.)

The Name A Place consultation closes on 25 November and during October we welcome further nomination suggestions from AMA Victoria members, ideally submitted with a biography of the individual. If you are interested in reading more about these medical practitioners, many are mentioned in the University of Melbourne’s Medical History Museum publication Strength of Mind – 125 Years of Women in Medicine (free text PDF available online).