Draft:Mahgul M. Ali

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Mahgul M. Ali
The first female physician of Afghanistan
Born	(1936-06-24)June 24, 1936 Kabul, Afghanistan
Died	February 9, 2014(2014-02-09) (aged 77) Wayne, New Jersey
Nationality	Afghan-American
Education	NYU Grossman School of Medicine
Occupation	Physician
Employer	NYU Langone Health
Known for	First female physician from Afghanistan

Dr. Mahgul M. Ali was an Afghan-American physician, recognized as the first female doctor in Afghanistan. She was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and pursued her medical education in Pakistan and the United States. Overcoming significant social and financial obstacles, she specialized in obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN) and anesthesiology, and practiced medicine in both Afghanistan (1957-58; 1960-63), and the United States (1958-1960; 1963-2013).

Early Life

Mahgul was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, into a family that valued education. She had two younger sisters, and three younger brothers – three of which also went on to study medicine: Shirin Zaman, Hissam Maiwandi, and Mahjabeen Kamyar. Her father, Mohammed Ali, Professor and Head, Department of History, Kabul University, prioritized his daughters’ education as much as his sons’, which was uncommon in Afghanistan during that time.

Education

Primary School

Women were not allowed to attend medical school in Afghanistan before 1956, and educational opportunities for women were severely limited in the 1940s. After being turned down for financial assistance by the Prime Minister, Sardar Shah Wali Khan, Mohammed sold one of his two houses to fund Mahgul and Shirin’s boarding school tuition at the Sacred Heart Convent School in Lahore, modern-day Pakistan. This decision was influenced by his own education in Lahore, and his familiarity with the region. In 1946, at the ages of 10 and 9, respectively, Mahgul and Shirin embarked by horse and carriage from Kabul to Lahore.

Mahgul and her sister attended Sacred Heart School in Pakistan, where they received their primary education. The school, run by Catholic nuns, provided a chance for them to grow in an academic environment.

Medical Education in Pakistan

After completing their primary education at Sacred Heart, Mahgul and Shirin both went on to medical school in Lahore at Fatima Jinnah Medical University, graduating in 1957.

Medical Education in America

After completing her initial medical education, Mahgul returned to Afghanistan briefly to practice medicine from 1957-58, before moving to the United States to further her studies. She originally trained in OB/GYN in Boston, Massachusetts, at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, and Tufts Medical Center from 1958-60, and later studied anesthesiology at Mount Auburn Hospital, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and NYU Grossman School of Medicine from 1963-1966.

Career

Medical Career in Afghanistan

Mahgul began providing OB/GYN services in Afghanistan, after graduating from medical school in 1957. Given that most women were more comfortable seeing a female physician for their OB/GYN needs and may otherwise have avoided seeing a male physician altogether, her services grew in high demand. Although practicing in Kabul, patients would arrive by foot or carriage from remote regions like Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif. As a result, she faced competitive resistance and discrimination from male colleagues, who would refuse to assist her with anesthesia during OB/GYN procedures, for example. To overcome these obstacles, Mahgul pursued additional training in anesthesia with the goal of providing full care to her patients in Afghanistan. However, the lack of support and societal challenges eventually led her to stay in the United States.

Medical Career in America

In the United States, Mahgul continued her medical career, specializing in anesthesiology after graduating from residency in 1966. She served as an attending and faculty physician at NYU Langone Health. Mahgul continued conducting clinical research and practicing medicine at NYU for almost 50 years, until she was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma in 2013.