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Dr
Franziska Schlink served the Broken Hill community as a General Practitioner from 1936 through to the 1950s. She was one of the few women allowed to go underground when she demanded access to treat miners who were injured or unwell.
Franziska Schlink was the daughter of Albert Joseph and Mabel Ann Schlink. Like her brothers Carl and John, Franziska completed a medical degree and she began work at the Royal Melbourne Hospital before moving to the Ballarat Base Hospital, the Royal Perth Hospital, and finally the Broken Hill and District Hospital in 1936. As one of the town's first women doctors she had to withstand a hostile reception from resident surgeons Samuel Barnett and Wilhelm Dorsch, but she and Dorsch went on to become firm friends. From 1951, Dr Schlink moved into private practice with Dr Brian Funder and Dr Edmond Thomas Walsh.
Franziska Schlink was president of the Broken Hill branch of the Australian Medical Association. A heavy smoker, she contracted lung cancer and after many years of service in Broken Hill returned to Wodonga, where her father had once owned a general store. She died at the age of 55.
Sources used to compile this entry: Camilleri, Jenny, Some Outstanding Women of Broken Hill and District, Jenny Camilleri (Broken Hill Historical Society/Broken Hill Council), Broken Hill, NSW, 2002.
Barbara Lemon
Created: 13 February 2009
http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE4055b.htm
I remember her well, she brought me into this world, and then looked after me as a child in Broken Hill
Jeff Cullinan - 23 June 2010, 4:14 PM EST
I remember Dr Schlink very well.
She was in the clinic with Dr Walsh all the time I was growing up. I remember her later when I entered the convent of the Sisters of Mercy and 'Schlinky' as we used to call her was often at the Convent visiting the older Sisters. She was always on call and would come at any hour of the day or night. An amazing woman
Helen Owens - 17 May 2011, 11:57 AM EST