In 1886, La Flesche attended the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia. She graduated first in her class of thirty-six members with a medical degree in 1889. Source — NSHS.
After earning her medical degree, it was back to the Omaha Reservation for hard and long work. Dr. La Flesche was the Reservation's only doctor, and she cared for more than a thousand people.
As a doctor, it was easy for Dr. La Flesche to see how the changes in lifestyle were hurting her people.She did a great deal to help her people understand changes they needed to make to protect their health. Dr. La Flesche wrote to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs about alcoholism and tuberculosis, which were two problems of vital interest to her people.
After nursing Alice Fletcher, an ethnologist and advocate of the Omaha people,
La Flesche realized her desire to help her people as a doctor. Source — NSHS.
Click this button to print this page of the story.
Susan La Flesche Picotte, First N.A. Female MD
