Dr Alida Avery was the first woman licensed to practice medicine in the state of Colorado where she was later made the Superintendent of Hygiene. Avery studied medicine at the 
Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania and the New England Female Medical College but found it difficult to establish herself in the field after graduation. Attempting to open a private practice in Brooklyn, Avery found that most of her patients consisted of her family and friends and as for many other women physicians at that time it was difficult to sustain the business. In 1865 she established herself at Vassar College (the first degree-granting institution for higher education for women in the U.S) as the resident physician and Professor of Physiology and Hygiene. Together with astronomer Maria Mitchell, the only other woman on the Vassar College faculty at that time, Avery learned that their younger male professor colleagues were paid more despite their comparative lack of experience. The two requested and were granted a raise together.
Maria Mitchell & Dr Alida Avery
After moving to Denver, Avery was elected vice president of the Women’s Suffrage Association where she helped the women of Colorado win the right to vote. By 1877 she was making the equivalent of $229,813 a year and in 1881 she was one of the first women, together with Edith Root and Mary Barker Bates (also vice president of the Colorado Medical Society), to be admitted to the Denver Medical Society.
Dr Justina Laurena “The Lady Doctor” Ford was the first African American woman to become a licensed physician in Denver, Colorado. She practised gynaecology, obstetrics and paediatrics from her own home as African Americans were at that time in Denver barred from working in hospitals or joining the Colorado Medical Association. She served a diverse community of immigrants, African-Americans and poor people turned away from hospital and she frequently accepted payment in the form of goods or services rather than money. Not until 1950 was Ford allowed to join the Colorado and American Medical Associations, Denver Medical Society and last but not least Denver General Hospital as a member of staff. She was still the only female African American doctor in Denver 48 years after gaining her medical license. In 1951 the Human Rights Award was given to Dr. Ford by Denver’s Cosmopolitan Club. She was still practising medicine and at the time of her death in 1952 she had delivered over 7000 babies.
Dr Susan “Doc Susie” Anderson was a contemporary of Dr Alida Avery and Dr Justina Laurena Ford and so also one of the first female physicians in Colorado. Like Dr Avery, 
she found it difficult to find work after graduating. She worked as a coroner in Grand County but later moved to the smaller town of Fraser after contracting tuberculosis. Dr Anderson practised as the only doctor in Fraser for 49 years and primarily dealt with childbirth, ski injuries and the 1918 flu outbreak and the associated increase in pneumonia. Because of where she was based, her medical practice consisted mostly of house calls (which she had to walk between – she didn’t own a car or a horse) and she was rarely paid in cash, receiving food or firewood instead.