Ethel Mary Vaughan Cowan

{{Short description|Australian medical doctor}}

Ethel Mary Vaughan Eaves (née Cowan) (born 1868 – died 1943) was an Australian medical doctor who in 1898 was the first female doctor at the Royal Children's Hospital.{{cite news |title=On the map: Victoria names more new places after women than men for the first time |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/mar/08/on-the-map-victoria-names-more-new-places-after-women-than-men-for-the-first-time |access-date=10 March 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=10 March 2025}}

Cowan was described in a 20 November 1897 article in the Kyneton Observer as a "native of Ballarat"{{cite news |title=Fatal Bicycle Accident |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/240815723?searchTerm=%22Ethel%20Mary%20Vaughan%20Cowan%22 |access-date=10 March 2025 |work=The Kyneton Observer |publisher=The Kyneton Observer via Trove |date=20 November 1897}}

After training and working as a nurse in Ballarat,{{Cite web |title=Melbourne Hospital for Sick Children - farewell to Dr Ethel Mary Vaughan Cowan (1868–1943) |url=https://collections.mdhs.unimelb.edu.au/objects/33885/melbourne-hospital-for-sick-children-farewell-to-dr-ethel-mary-vaughan-cowan-18681943 |access-date=2025-03-14 |website=Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences Museums at The University of Melbourne Collection Online |language=en}} Cowan graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Medicine degree in 1897.{{cite news |title=Conferring University Degrees |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/188142967 |access-date=10 March 2025 |work=The Age via Trove |date=16 November 1879}} Prior to her appointment as resident at the Royal Children's Hospital in 1898, Cowan was obliged to work for one month without pay to prove her competency.{{Cite web |title=Hospital Heroes Gallery: Clinical Excellence |url=https://www.rchfoundation.org.au/hospital-heroes-gallery-excellence/ |access-date=2025-03-14 |website=The Royal Children's Hospital Foundation |language=en-AU}} Returning from a visit to England in 1902, she replaced Mary Fletcher in an honorary appointment at the Queen Victoria Hospital.{{cite news |date=8 May 1902 |title=Society Notes |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article255911243 |accessdate=14 March 2025 |newspaper=The Arena |location=Victoria, Australia |page=16 |via=National Library of Australia |volume=}}

On 18 August 1904, Cowan married Stanley Eaves.{{cite news |title=The Argus - 24 September 1904 - Family notices |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10341892 |access-date=10 March 2025 |work=The Argus (Melbourne) |date=24 September 1904}}

In 2024, after a 2023 proposal by the Melbourne City Council,{{cite web |title=Proposed naming of CL520, Carlton as Cowan Lane open for submissions |url=https://participate.melbourne.vic.gov.au/place-and-road-naming/proposed-naming-cl520-carlton-cowan-lane-open-submissions |publisher=City of Melbourne |access-date=11 March 2025}} a lane in Carlton, near to the Children's Hospital former location was named in honour of Cowan.