Virginia Connally, MD, the first female physician in Abilene, cleared the path for other female physicians.

Back in 1933, when Dr. Virginia Connally started medical school, she was one of only three female students.

She recalls one professor telling the three women that he predicted only one of them would make it all of the way through medical school. She also remembers the male students going out of their way to embarrass her. “Whenever I would go down to eat in the dining room,” says Dr. Connally, now 98, “the guys would hit on their glasses with their forks and make a lot of noise to attract attention to me.”

Despite the professor’s prediction — and the harassment from the male students — Dr. Connally and the other two female students all graduated from Louisiana State University (LSU) Medical School, which was one of the few medical schools at the time that accepted female students.

Thanks to trailblazing physicians like Dr. Connally, today LSU Medical School’s student body is 50 percent female. And according to the Texas Department of State Health Services, around 40 percent of Texas physicians are now female.¹

In her 98 years, Dr. Connally was not only the first female physician in Abilene, but she was the first female president of the Taylor-Jones (now the Taylor-Jones-Haskell-Callahan) County Medical Society in 1948, elected chairman of the staff of St. Ann Hospital in 1958, became chief of staff of the Hendrick Memorial Hospital in 1960, and served on the National Board of the Female College of Pennsylvania. She has also received many awards, including the Pioneer in Medicine Award at the 100th anniversary celebration of the Taylor-Jones-Haskell-Callahan County Medical Society, and was named a “Yellow Rose of Texas” by Texas Governor Rick Perry.

Recently, her life as a female physician and pioneer was chronicled in a biography, Virginia Connally, M.D.: Trailblazing Physician, Woman of Faith, by Loretta Fulton, a former reporter for the Abilene Reporter-News.

“I didn’t want Loretta to write the book,” says Dr. Connally. “I simply could not understand her wanting (or feeling compelled) to write this story. I thought no one would read it!” But she was wrong — many people, including her former patients, have shown up at book signings. “Oh, yes, when we’ve been doing these book signings, I’ve had patients come up to me who I haven’t seen in 50 years and tell me how much I meant to them. It has been really fun, and rewarding, to have these relationships renewed.”

Stumbling into medicine

Dr. Connally didn’t set out to become a pioneer in the medical field — or a physician for that matter. She stumbled into medicine almost by default.

As a child, she was bright, but was more drawn to literature and reading than to science. She’s still an avid reader, even at 98.

But that all changed when she moved to Abilene in 1930 to attend Simmons College (now Hardin-Simmons University). She lived with her aunt and uncle, Dr. W.R. Snow and Mrs. Mae Cagle Snow, while she attended college. “I had the encouragement of my uncle, who was a physician,” says Dr. Connally. “He encouraged me all the time. He wanted all of his nieces and nephews to have more than a high school education.”

At the time, there weren’t many career options for women. Teaching was one of them — and Virginia decided she didn’t want to be a teacher. So she decided to study medicine instead.

As it turned out, Dr. Connally chose a good time to become a physician. It was the start of World War II, and many male physicians were off to war. In addition, as an ear, nose, and throat specialist, she chose a specialty that was needed in Abilene at the time, because the only Abilene ear, nose, and throat specialist was on the verge of retiring.

Member of the Texas Medical Association (TMA) for 70 years

In September 1940, Dr. Connally opened an office in Abilene, and her practice took off. In 1948, she was elected as president of the Taylor-Jones County Medical Society. Being active in the county medical society — and the TMA which she has been a member of for 70 years — was important to her career, she says, because it gave her a way to network with other Texas physicians.

Being actively involved in the local and state medical societies also helped her to stay up-to-date on the latest medical information. “When you are busy practicing medicine, where else are you going to get basic, general information you need to know?” she says.

In 1953, Dr. Connally married Abilene oilman Ed Connally, who later became the president of the Texas Democratic Party. The Connallys were good friends with President and Lady Bird Johnson.

As a little girl growing up in Temple, Texas, she never would have imagined the life she ended up living. “I grew up as a little girl who whenever attention was directed to me, I hid behind the door or under the bed.”

Dr. Connally still doesn’t like the extra attention. In fact, when Loretta Fulton asked her to accompany her on book signings, Dr. Connally at first demurred. “I don’t think I can do that.” But Loretta promised to be right there with her — and Dr. Connally has enjoyed every minute.

Retired, but still making a difference

Dr. Connally retired and closed her medical practice in 1982. But she hasn’t slow down. Besides going to book signings, she’s traveled to Venezuela on medical mission trips, and has been involved with sponsoring other missionary endeavors at her church, The First Baptist Church of Abilene, and at her alma mater.

Dr. Connally marvels at how quickly medicine has changed in recent years. She became a physician before penicillin was mass-produced for use in the United States. “It made a huge difference in the way I practiced medicine.” Today, she says, medicine has changed so rapidly that it’s mind-boggling. “So much has changed so fast, you have to work pretty hard to keep up.”

But Dr. Connally says that no matter how different the practice of medicine is now from when she started her practice, the foundation is still the same. She advises young physicians, “Be sure of your motives for going into medicine. Your motivation should be to improve the health of your patients in any way you can.”

1. Texas Department of State Health Services, Physician Graph Documentation PDF, March 17, 2011, http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/searchresults.aspx. Accessed July 15, 2011.

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