Barbara Schepps Wong (1942-2024) was an American radiologist, one of the first to suffer gender discrimination in her profession, which she courageously confronted. Her life was marked by the continuous pursuit of excellence, both for herself and for her trainees and co-workers.

She was a native of Chester, Pennsylvania, and, although she came from a family with limited financial means, she had a happy childhood. She did her primary schooling at Chester Public School and her undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania, working at various research laboratories to finance them, and later at Hahnemann Medical College, where she received her degree in 1964. During this time, she also worked at Hahnemann Hospital as a livelihood.

Dr. Schepps Wong completed her residency at the New England Deaconess Hospital and at the Boston City Hospital. Upon completion of her residency, she moved to Columbus, Ohio, where she found employment in the Ohio State University Radiology Department. There she had her first contact with gender-related fee discrimination. She took her situation to court, achieving parity in fees for the few female doctors employed at the time in the department.

She settled in Rhode Island, where she again experienced gender discrimination. She was rejected by a radiology chief who commented that he would never employ a female radiologist. Fortunately, she was hired by the Ray Medical Group (later renamed Rhode Island Medical Imaging or R.I.M.I.). The rest of her life would be spent in Pawtucket and Providence. 

At a time when there were very few women leaders in the field of radiology, she was elected President of the R.I.M.I., a position she held for 15 years, a period in which the group experienced spectacular growth and great progress in the academic field. Under Barbara's leadership, the R.I.M.I. was the first radiology group affiliated with Brown Medical School, becoming the largest and most prestigious radiology center in the region.

Barbara was the driving force behind the founding of the Anne C. Pappas Breast Imaging Center at Rhode Island Hospital in 1996. She enjoyed personally mentoring the Center's excellent technicians, who describe her “as the person who put Rhode Island Hospital on the map, equipping it with the best breast cancer screening programs, equipment and staff” during her tenure as director of the Pappas Center. She led the field of breast pathology patient care in Rhode Island and Southern New England for years.

Dr. Schepps was a leader in everything she did, president of the Rhode Island Medical Staff Association and a member of the Rhode Island Hospital Board of Directors, she was also president of the Rhode Island Medical Society. Clinical Professor of Diagnostic Imaging at the Warren Alpert School of Medicine (Brown University), in 2004 she received the prestigious Milton W. Hamolsky Outstanding Physician Award.

She was a renaissance woman: artist, sculptor, expert crocheter, golf enthusiast, fond of reading and opera. She was very generous and devoted much of her time to philanthropic and charitable activities. After retirement, she spent part of the year in Maui, Hawaii, where she contributed as a grade school teacher.

Having started life in humble circumstances, Barbara worked tirelessly to become an outstanding medical professional. She helped a large number of patients, mentoring a generation of young physicians and imaging technicians. Hers is the story of a life always striving for excellence. The world has lost a dynamic force.

Author:
Dr. Luis Humberto Ros