In this episode, Dr Rob Kaplan delves into the extraordinary yet often overlooked life of Mary Barkas, a pioneering New Zealand psychiatrist who defied societal norms and gender barriers in the early 20th century. She became the first female doctor at the historic Bethlem Hospital and one of the four medical officers appointed at the opening of the Maudsley Hospital.

Despite her groundbreaking achievements Barkas faced immense challenges, from entrenched prejudice in her professional field to personal disillusionment. Dr Kaplan examines her profound contributions to psychiatry, her struggles with the limitations placed on women in medicine and the mysterious turn her life took when she returned to New Zealand, never to practice again. 

Dr Robert M. Kaplan, MBChB FRANZCP MA MPhil, is a forensic psychiatrist, lecturer and speaker with positions at the University of New South Wales, Western Sydney University and Wollongong University. His fields of expertise are sleep and pain disorders, neuropsychiatry and psychological aspects of physical disorders. He also holds the distinguished position of Chair of the Binational Section of Philosophy and Humanities at RANZCP.  

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