physics

Janet Aitken (physician)

Janet Aitken (physician) is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Janet Aitken (physician) rather than just read about it. In short: Janet Kerr Aitken (1886 – 11 April 1982) was a specialist in juvenile rheumatism and President of the Medical Women's Federation from 1940 to 1942. She was a consultant physician at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital in London.

Key takeaways

Janet Aitken (physician) belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Janet Aitken (physician) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Janet Aitken (physician) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Janet Kerr Aitken (1886 – 11 April 1982) was a specialist in juvenile rheumatism and President of the Medical Women's Federation from 1940 to 1942. She was a consultant physician at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital in London.

Early life and education Janet Aitken was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She studied at St Leonards School, St Andrews, and initially intended to study music. She studied piano, taking the LRAM, and was also awarded the gold medal for singing in 1912 from the Manchester School of Music. With the outbreak of World War I, Aitken trained as a masseuse in order to help injured servicemen, and she obtained a qualification from the Incorporated Society of Masseurs. This led to an interest in medicine, which she followed by enrolling in the London School of Medicine for Women. She graduated in 1922. In 1924, she qualified as a Medical Doctor, and in 1926 obtained the Membership of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom.

Career Aitken began her medical career at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital as a house physician and clinical assistant. She rose to the rank of consultant in 1929 and became a physician in charge of the Kensington Supervisory Rheumatic Clinic for Children shortly thereafter. The field of juvenile idiopathic arthritis was her speciality. In the 1930s, Aitken was vice-dean of the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine and also served on the committees of hospitals and of the Central Health Services Council and the British Medical Association. Aitken became the President of Medical Women's Federation in 1940, during the "difficult war years". She later became honorary secretary of the organisation, and her home was used as the office. Aitken obtained her FRCP in 1943. In 1949, she was appointed to the Medical Advisory Committee to the NHS.

In 1955, she was elected to the General Medical Council, topping the list of nominees with 16,500 votes. She was the first woman to be on the council, as Christine Murrell had been elected in 1933, but died before taking up her seat. Not long before her appointment to Council, Aitken had mused on the challenges of such "firsts":It is, I think, the first step which counts; once a woman has been appointed, if she is a wise woman and good at her work, our male colleagues get used to the idea and the next time a woman applies she is more or less considered on her merits. The first woman to be appointed anywhere has a great responsibility, as if she is not found to be a good colleauge the pendulum swings back and another chance is not given for some time.

Awards and honours Aitken was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1950 New Year Honours.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Janet Aitken (physician)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Janet Aitken (physician) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Janet Aitken (physician) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Janet Aitken (physician) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Janet Aitken (physician)

In research: Janet Aitken (physician) appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Janet Aitken (physician) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Janet Aitken (physician) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1886 births, 1982 deaths, 20th-century British medical doctors, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Janet Aitken (physician) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Janet Aitken (physician) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Janet Aitken (physician) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Janet Aitken (physician) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Janet Aitken (physician) in simple terms?

Why does Janet Aitken (physician) matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Janet Aitken (physician)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Janet Aitken (physician).