One 20Th Century Woman

You’ll get a first-hand look at the life of a woman doctor balancing career and family—exemplifying a 20th century phenomenon. Dr. Eikleberry’s autobiography chronicles one mid-western, middle-class woman’s life in a rapidly changing century for women. You’ll learn what it was like to grow up on a farm in Missouri, to attend a one room school, to graduate high school at the end of WWII, and to compete against the college Greeks via an Independent Society.

She started medical school as one of two women in a class of forty-four and subsequently lost peace and tranquility. Polio dominated her first private practice in Iowa. Soon she had four children and began life as a juggler, juxtaposing medical practice and family. She moved with her physician husband across the western United States; she experienced sexual harassment in her work for the military and derision from her fellow physicians as she cut costs for the Department of Public Assistance.

Her medical practice ended in Colorado. Children now nearly grown, she and Bill embarked on a more recreational family project: the building of a log cabin in the remote Rocky Mountains. She tells the heart-wrenching story of losing their son to schizophrenia, a baffling and frightening mental illness. In conclusion, she takes you into a doctor’s mind, illustrating how too much money was spent on health care when less would have done, pointing out the many shades of gray in medicine, and stressing the value of clinical judgment.