Dr. Bertha Van Hoosen was born in 1863, in Rochester, Michigan. After she received her A.B. from the University of Michigan in 1884, she entered the University of Michigan Medical School, from which she graduated in 1888. Van Hoosen was awarded an honorary master's degree in 1912, and Loyola gave her an LL.D. in 1926. Dr. Van Hoosen's career includes a long list of surgical and hospital services. Following three years of private practice in Chicago, she became an attending gynecologist at Provident Hospital. She held that position until 1929. Van Hoosen also served at different times in the Woman's Hospital, Mary Thompson Hospital, Cook County Hospital, and the Frances E. Willard Hospital. She also held a professorship in the Woman's Medical College, Northwestern University, from 1894 until 1902. She then became a member of the medical staff of the University of Illinois Medical School. In 1919, she became professor and head of the Department of Obstetrics of Loyola University Medical School, retiring in 1937 as professor emeritus.
Dr. Van Hoosen was a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of a long list of medical societies, as well as the Chicago Woman's Club, the Women's City Club, and a number of women's business and professional organizations. At the age of eighty-four, Van Hoosen wrote, "Petticoat Surgeon", which described her early difficulties in overcoming the prevailing prejudice against women doctors.
Van Hoosen died June 7, 1952.
From the guide to the Bertha Van Hoosen papers, 1880-1952, (Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)
