Fran A. DuRocher, MD, WMC ’70 was one of fewer than 50 students to graduate in the final class of Woman’s Medical College (WMC) – mere months before it became coeducational as the Medical College of Pennsylvania.
A pioneer in all areas of her life, Fran was proud to be part of the last class of all women to graduate from WMC, where she was a dynamic leader. Born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island in 1943, Fran dreamed of becoming a physician but saw few examples of female doctors. Indeed, women comprised less than 5 percent of medical school students in the 1960s.
Undeterred, Fran graduated from Trinity College in 1964 with her bachelor’s in biology and from Brown University in 1966 with her master of science. She decided to enroll in a medical school that mirrored her spirit of ambition and innovation: Woman’s Medical College, the world’s first degree-granting medical school for women.
This decision would change the course of her life and career. After several uninspiring rotations – including an unsuccessful assignment to tie surgical knots around saltshakers – Fran finally found her calling: internal medicine. More importantly, she found lifelong friends and colleagues. She met classmate, best friend and future practice partner, Barbara Carson, MD, WMC ’70. Together they completed their internships and residencies at the Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital (MCPH) and the Philadelphia VA Hospital. In the delivery room at MCPH, Fran also met registered nurse, Siggi Moser, who would later become her wife.
After graduating, Fran held prominent medical positions in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C. In 1987, she and Barbara co-founded an internal medicine practice in Fairfax, Virginia. As part of the family business, Siggi oversaw the practice’s office operations.
Beyond her education and career, Fran continued to blaze her own trail. She was the president of the American Medical Women’s Association and a faculty member at Hahnemann Medical College and George Washington University Medical School. In 1994, she and Siggi guided their church’s Opening and Affirming Committee, leading to their church’s acceptance of same-sex marriage. During the global pandemic in 2020, Fran started a virtual current affairs discussion group in her homeowners community and served on the WMC Class of 1970 50th Reunion Committee.
It also became increasingly important for Fran to give back to other women in medicine. She once shared, “I met other women along my medical journey whose parents didn’t support their choice to become doctors. But my parents always supported me and ended up supporting my friends, as well.’’
In the spirit of her parents, Fran named Drexel as a beneficiary of her Individual Retirement Account and established the Fran DuRocher, MD, WMC ’70 Endowed Scholarship Fund. Her gift will provide scholarships for College of Medicine students who advocate for women in medicine and demonstrate financial need. The first scholarship will be awarded in the 2024-2025 academic year, providing much-needed financial support to a medical student. It will continue to be awarded in perpetuity, so many future physicians can share in Fran’s generosity of spirit.
After Fran’s passing in 2023, her sister, Joan, shared, “Fran was a larger-than-life woman whose passing has left a great void in our lives. But we are so pleased that she chose to honor Drexel and many other charities with substantial donations. She made us proud in life and again by her example of giving in her death.”
Fran’s life was one filled with love and joy. In retirement, Fran and Barbara remained best friends and next-door neighbors. After Barbara’s passing in 2006, Fran contributed to the Barbara A. Carson, MD, WMC ’70 Endowed Scholarship established by Barbara’s estate plan. Fran also enjoyed eating, dining out, spending time with family and friends and travelling with her wife until Siggi’s passing in 2021. Fran will be remembered as a pioneer – not just as a woman in medicine but as a human who cared deeply for her patients, her family, her friends and the future of the medical field.