Jennie Kidd Trout

Jennie Kidd Trout (April 21, 1841 - 1921) was the first woman in Canada legally to become a medical doctor, and was the only woman in Canada licensed to practice medicine until 1880, when Emily Stowe[?] completed the official qualifications.

Born Jennie Kidd Gowanlock in Wooden Mills, Scotland, Jennie (whose name is variously spelled "Jenny") moved with her parents to Canada in 1847, settling near Stratford, Ontario. She married Edward Trout in 1865 and thereafter moved to Toronto, where Edward ran a newspaper.

Motivated by her own chronic illnesses, she decided on a medical career, passing her matriculation exam in 1871 and studying medicine at the University of Toronto and later transferring to the Women's Medical College in Pennsylvania, earning her M.D. there on March 11, 1875.

Trout then opened the Therapeutic and Electrical Institute in Toronto, which specialized in treatments for women, involving "galvanic baths or electricity." She also, for six years, ran a free dispensary for the poor at the same location. The Institute was quite successful, later opening branches in Brantford and Hamilton.

Due to poor health, Trout retired in 1882 to Palma Sola, Florida[?]. She was later instrumental in the establishment of a medical school for women at Queen's University in Kingston. Her family traveled extensively between Florida and Ontario, and later moved to Los Angeles, California, where she died in 1921.