PHYSICIAN, Trailblazer,
PHILANTHROPIST D R . J E A N N E S C A N L A N D ’ 74
FIRST FEMALE GENERAL SURGEON AND THE FIRST FEMALE PLASTIC S U R G E O N I N C H AT TA N O O G A R E M A I N E D T H E O N LY F E M A L E P L A S T I C S U R G E O N I N C H AT TA N O O G A FOR 25 YEARS O N LY P L A S T I C S U R G E O N E V E R I N T H E R E G I O N T O H AV E C O M P L E T E D A COSMETIC AND A BREAST RECONSTRUCTION FELLOWSHIP
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ince second grade Jeanne Scanland ’74 has had only one career aspiration—to become a surgeon. Never wavering from that dream, each Christmas and birthday she would ask for money for medical school, depositing it in the savings account she opened at age 5 with Scotty Probasco at American National Bank. As she got older, she worked every summer and while in college to contribute to her nest egg. There was just one problem with her plan; there had never been a female surgeon in Chattanooga before. “I can’t really explain how I was so certain at such an early age; I just knew it was what I was supposed to do,” she says. “Everyone told me that it wasn’t possible because I was a girl, and that I’d have to be a nurse instead.”
Fortunately, Scanland’s parents supported her dream. At a time when very few women worked outside of the home, Scanland’s mother was an attorney and judge. Her father was a mechanical engineer with a Ph.D., and they both believed that education could help their daughter accomplish her goals. When it came time for middle school, there was never any doubt they would send her to GPS. Scanland credits the experience with preparing her for medical school, exposing her to courses not typically available to girls at that time such as calculus, biology, physics, and chemistry. More importantly, GPS taught her a love of learning and how to become a self-directed learner. 18
