Dr. Anthea Dixon
Dr. Anthea Dixon was born on July 30, 1943 in wartime London. After the war her parents moved the family to Scotland. Growing up Dixon and her younger brother would travel to England to attend boarding school. Dixon attended an all-girls boarding school where they taught her that she could become anyone she wanted and how to think for herself. At home Dixon received a similar education from her mother. Dixon says that her mother would tell her that "no daughter of mine should be financially dependent on a man". In addition her father was convinced that women could do absolutely anything they wanted. The combination of these two forces in her life gave Dixon the foundation for excelling in both her professional and personal life. Dixon always knew that she wanted to be a physician. As a child she and her brother would play doctor and her mother would say "No director of nursing will ever take you as a student" to which Dixon responded "Okay so then I will become a doctor". Dixon stayed true to her word and attended Trinity College Dublin Medical School where she received her medical degree in 1966. During this time she married an American physician. They were living in what was still considered a "Third World" country and at the time of the birth of their first child they qualified for welfare assistance even with their combined salaries. In 1968 Dixon and her husband decided to move to Tucson with their daughter Maggie. In 1969 Dixon began her residency at Tucson Hospital's Medical Education Program at Tucson Medical Center specializing in surgery until 1971. That same year the University Medical Center opened and Dixon began her residency as an obstetrician/gynecologist. In 1974 Dixon was in the first graduating class of OB/GYN residents from the UA and for the first twelve years of her career she was the only female OB/GYN in Tucson. Even though she was in a male-dominated field Dixon says that she never experienced any discrimination from her male colleagues. In fact after graduating she was taken into practice by two male physicians and worked with them for seven years. In 1982 Dixon branched out on her own and established a private practice which she has run for thirty-two years and counting. Along with running her practice Dixon has spent a considerable amount of time working with various organizations serving on the board for Planned Parenthood of Southern Arizona being on the Medical Advisory Committee Pima County Medical Society and as a member of the Tucson Women Physician Society. Although Dixon spent much of her time developing her professional career she still made time to raise three children (Maggie Jane Jaime): I was divorced I ran/run my own business and try to take good care of my patients. Dixon continues to run a private practice which she is very happy about I became an OB/GYN to take care of women. I have always been a strong advocate for individual women's rights and helping women realize their potential. In my practice I have been able to watch many women through several stages of their lives I delivered about 5000 babies and now get to see some of those babies as patients! Dixon no longer contributes to organizations and instead spends her free time pursuing her love for domestic tasks such as grandchildren gardening cooking and taking care of her dogs.