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Geraldine Catherine Maloney, MD, FRCS(C), physician, military officer (born 28 July 1906 in Toronto, ON; died 22 October 1985 in Toronto). Geraldine Maloney was one of the first female physicians to receive a commission in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps (RCAMC). In 1947, she became the first female fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada in obstetrics and gynecology, and the first woman appointed to a permanent staff position at a university-affiliated teaching hospital. (See also Childbirth in Canada.)
Early Life and Family
Geraldine Maloney was the daughter of John Maloney and Margaret Josephine Maloney (née Dwyer). She was one of several children in the Maloney family, which was of Irish Catholic heritage. One of her sisters, author and librarian Josephine Phelan, won the Governor General’s Literary Award for creative nonfiction for her book The Ardent Exile: The Life and Times of D'Arcy McGee (1951). Her brother Larkin Maloney became a well-known racehorse owner who partnered with Conn Smythe for several years; their most successful horses included Ace Marine and Wonder Where, which was Canada’s Horse of the Year in 1959. (See Thoroughbred Racing.)
Education
Geraldine Maloney received a Bachelor of Arts before embarking on her medical studies. According to the 1931 census, the 25-year-old student was then living in her own apartment in Toronto. In her final year of medical studies at the University of Toronto, Maloney was president of the Medical Women’s Undergraduate Association. She was also a member of the Newman Club, which supported Catholic students at the university.
Maloney received her medical degree in 1937 and embarked on a two-year internship at St. Michael’s Hospital. In 1938, she became the first female senior intern at the hospital. Maloney then completed specialty training in obstetrics and gynecology at St. Michael’s and at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School in London, England. She then joined the staff at St. Michael’s and set up a private practice.
Second World War
In 1942, Geraldine Maloney became one of the first female physicians to receive a commission in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps (RCAMC). Faced with a serious shortage of doctors, the RCAMC began recruiting female physicians in July 1942. Maloney quickly volunteered for service and was tasked with examining recruits for the Canadian Women’s Army Corps (CWAC). She was later promoted major and made responsible for all medical services for women in the CWAC.
In April 1944, Maloney was sent to England to consult with British Army staff about their demobilization plans. While in London, she experienced a V-1 bombing. When queried about her experience with the “Nazi robot” or “buzz bombs,” as they were known, she simply replied, “I don’t like them.”
After Maloney’s return to Canada, she helped organize army hospitals for female service members and veterans. She left the RCAMC in 1945.
Toronto General Hospital
After the war, Geraldine Maloney underwent two years of specialty training at Toronto General Hospital; she passed the fellowship exams in obstetrics and gynecology in 1947. The same year, she became a full-time member of the teaching staff at Toronto General Hospital. This made her the first woman appointed as permanent clinical staff at a Toronto teaching hospital, and the first full-time female faculty member of the University of Toronto’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Did you know?
Geraldine Maloney was among the first women admitted as fellows to the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Surgeons Jessie Gray and Marjorie Davis and physician Jean Davey also passed their fellowship exams in the 1940s. All held appointments at the Women’s College Hospital during their careers.
Women’s Hospital
Geraldine Maloney remained at Toronto General Hospital until 1955, when she was recruited to Women’s College Hospital to lead its new teaching program in obstetrics and gynecology. In 1956, the department formally affiliated with the University of Toronto as a teaching centre. The following year, Maloney became Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology, replacing Marion Hilliard (the university required teaching staff to hold a Royal College Fellowship in their specialty, which Hilliard didn’t have). Under Maloney, the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department “evolved into a powerhouse,” especially as the clinical teaching program matured.
Maloney stepped down from her position at Women’s College Hospital in 1966, although she continued as a consultant. She died in 1985 and was buried in the Mount Hope Catholic Cemetery in Toronto. Among those mentioned in her obituary was her “much loved friend Dr. Marjorie Davis.”
