TIL that Dr. Leila Alice Daughtry Denmark was America's oldest known practicing physician when she retired in 2001. She was one of the first women pediatricians in Atlanta, and has been seeing patients and advising parents for more than seventy years.
She was actually my Great Great Great Aunt. My grandmother actually met her once while in Georgia and she says that Leila had been told stories of the civil war by men who actually fought in it which I find just mind blowing
She was my pediatrician! I loved her. My parents actually named my little sister after her.
Controversial opinion: I don't think people should be allowed to be in certain professions for too long. Medicine is one of them. I dunno what the limit should be, but at the pace that medical knowledge changes these days, letting people stay practicing for 40+ years just leads to a lot of old ideas being kept in the profession at the cost of people's health and well-being.
Older doctors have a much, much higher rate of malpractice, statistically.
Forsyth County, Georgia has a high school named for her.
She obv found her passion for kids and that's awesome!
She was about 103 when she retired.
I wonder whether she still used leeches when she retired.
Considering