Virginia Apgar: A Brief Biography

Virginia Apgar, she is one of the most remarkable women of all time. She continues to be the most significant and influential women until this very day. The world of the Neonatal specialty would not have existed if it were not for Virginia Apgar. Whatever she did, whether it was attending college or becoming a physician, she was outstanding and repeatedly the first one in whatever she wanted to do. Apgar excelled and became the person she is known to be today. Virginia Apgar was a leader and an immense founder for the contributions to medicine developed the infant test that bears her name. She made medicine her life and dedicated all her time to becoming a woman who is eternally remembered. Apgar’s input to the medical field was extraordinary …show more content…
Apgar was the youngest of the three children. Apgar is best known worldwide for the development of the Apgar score. She also wrote a book called Is My Baby Alright? Along with Joan Beck, she wrote about all her research and conclusion of the evaluation of newborn infants. Her parents were Charles Apgar and Helen Apgar. Her father Charles worked, as an insurance executive but was also very interested in science. He was also very interested in the sciences and spent time in the basement inventing and conducting experiments. Her father was unquestionably smart and Apgar took after him. After losing one of her brothers to tuberculosis, and having another brother chronically ill she decided that she would go into the field of medicine. Like father, like daughter, Apgar outshined in every subject at school and extracurricular activities. She would do everything at school, from writing in the school newspapers to acting in the school plays. Apgar exceeded in everything she set her mind to. Apgar was excellent in all of her social sciences and realized her passion for pursuing medicine and becoming a doctor when she was older. Apgar came from a struggling family and a very ill family, her curiosity for medicine and the illnesses in her family she decided that she will continue to follow the career of medicine. Virginia Apgar was a very charismatic and an admirable human. She helped …show more content…
Apgar attended Mt. Holyoke College, in South Hadley, Massachusetts, by receiving scholarships and taking on numerous jobs, in order for her to be able to pay off the school. After going to Community College, Apgar entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University. She graduated from there in 1933 and was in massive debt. Virginia was the fourth in her graduating class in Columbia and was determined to become a surgeon by then. Back then women were rarely seen in college, let alone in medical school. Apgar was one of nine women out of the ninety students there. After graduating from Columbia she was given a surgical internship at Columbia and encountered many obstacles in her career. Apgar, like every other woman during the 1900s suffered discrimination for going after a job that was meant for