Dr. Jackson had a love of the outdoors, particularly horse-riding and hunting. Her family accidentally settled on land rich in oil and so they were well off. Unlike many other women her age, Dr. Jackson was able to attend college, and she matriculated to the University of Texas at Austin in 1920, where she double-majored in economics and sociology. Her interaction with an injured man during sociology drew her to medicine, but the resistance of her father to that career path remained long into her training.
Dr. Jackson started medical school at Baylor in 1924 – there were 112 students and 4 of them were women; both explicit and implicit sexism was rampant (women could not take urology, they needed to score ten points higher to achieve the same grades as men). Only 58 of the 112 graduated, but all four women did, and Dr. Jackson was 8th in her class. She and her female classmates founded the Baylor chapter of a social fraternity for female medical students.
Dr. Jackson was intent on pursuing general surgery but there were no surgical internships available for women at the time. She found an internal medicine position at an all-women residency program at WorcesterMemorial Hospital but worked on minor surgical service and made an excellent impression. She applied to and was accepted into a second internship in general surgery at the University of Iowa. After a short time in the program, particularly shaded by her work with polio-afflicted children, Dr. Jackson had a career shift. “I can’t describe the feeling I had when I was helping one of these kids, but I knew then this experience was among the most rewarding for me. It was then that I decided on orthopedic surgery.”
The following year she returned to the Worcester hospital to continue her studies in orthopedics and ultimately finished residency training at Scottish Rites Hospital in Dallas, Texas. One of her mentors said to her, “Ruth, I don’t have to worry about you because you pay attention to the little things. These boys, all they want to do is operate, operate, but I don’t worry about you.” She graduated in 1932 as what we consider the first female orthopedic surgeon.
Dr. Jackson opened her practice in Dallas, Texas where she supplemented her income by providing physical examinations under the WorksProgress Administration for an additional $3/hour. She got shafted on OR time because men took all the choice time and often found herself without the necessary equipment when she did get to operate. However, she improvised and adapted store-bought hardware tools to her operating room needs; she famously put a patient in cervical traction for the first time after sterilizing 25lb ice tongs – this was the beginning of her relationship with the cervical spine.
In 1933, the AAOS was established, and all practicing orthopedic surgeons were automatically grandfathered into membership – all but one, as Dr.Jackson was notably excluded from this policy and instead required to once again clear a set of hurdles separate from her peers. It was decided that if she takes and passes her boards, they would let her join. In 1937, Dr. Jackson took and passed the ABOS, becoming the first female board-certified orthopedic surgeon.
The next several years were very accomplished for Dr. Jackson; she became the Chief of Ortho at Parkland Hospital, made visits to DC in advisory roles, and invented the Jackson “CerviPillo”. She became a cervical syndrome specialist, giving ICLs at AAOS on conservative treatment of cervical disease, as well as international talks – she even visited Columbia in 1962. She was famous for performing “wide awake” laminectomies under local anesthesia after diagnosing through epidural injection. Ruth Jackson Foundation started at Baylor in the 1960s, which supported research endeavors and yearly funded seminars.
Dr.Jackson continued to be a role model for women and men. Some of the favorite stories about her mentoring include:
- Responded to a female high school student intent on becoming a surgeon with these words: “If you have a burning desire to study medicine, no one can stop you.”
- Was paired with a female med student mentee who was looking for the biggest woman because she was ortho – Ruth was 5’2” and told the student “I don’t operate on a stool, I tell them to lower the table.”
- Male residents routinely credited Ruth“taught me everything I know” and then I still call her (She once traveled 90minutes to reduce a hip the boys could not reduce.)
In 1974, when she was 72, Dr Jackson stopped operating. She continued to see patients(and attend AAOS meetings) into her 80s. She never gave up her femininity – she wore skirts and full make-up to do ER consults and kept her weekly hair appointment religiously. She was a businesswoman, entrepreneur, and surgeon. She married twice, neither for love, and did not have children (she actually chose radiation to become sterile).
In 1983, Dr. Jackson had lunch with five women at the AAOS meeting, this is when the Ruth Jackson Orthopedic Society unofficially started. The following year, there were 29 women and they called themselves the RuthJackson Society. One of these women was Laura Tosi, a medical student at the time, who went on to finish her residency at NYOH, and is the alumni speaker at the 2025 NYOH Biennial. By 1984 RJOS had 86 members, by 1985 had 100 members, by 1990 had 507 members. Laura Tosi became President in 1991, just eight years after being at her first luncheon.
In 1994, Dr. Jackson died at the age of 92, and rumor has it she smoked a cigarette on the hospital roof the day she died. In 2023, RJOS celebrated 40 years, and Christen Russo became President.
In 2020, William Levine was awarded the RJOS “He For She" Award, and on Dr. Jackson’s birthday this year, RJOS will release the second season of their podcast with the first episode featuring Dr. Levine (and hosted by Dr. Liana Tedesco!).
December 13, 2023
Please consider honoring Dr. Ruth Jackson on her birthday this year and become a member – it is not just for women!
