Michaela A. Quinn

Michaela Anne "Dr. Mike" Quinn, M.D. is a fictional character from the American television show Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. CBS introduced the series in 1993, and Dr. Quinn was played by Jane Seymour. The series ran for six seasons, ending in 1998. Seymour reprised the role in two made for TV movies, Dr. Quinn: Revolutions (1999) and Dr. Quinn: The Heart Within (2001), following the series cancellation. Jane Seymour's portrayal of Dr. Michaela Quinn has been widely viewed as an iconic western character, earning Seymour a Golden Globe award. Background Michaela Quinn was born into a wealthy family in Boston. With the encouragement of Josef Quinn, her father and a doctor in his own right, she attends the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania and becomes licensed herself. Unable to find respect as a female physician in a practice of her own, she works with her father in his clinic until his death. Once again faced with discrimination as an independent, female doctor, she pursues employment outside of Boston. After being mistaken for "Michael A. Quinn", (a man) she is offered a job via telegraph in the Colorado Territory. Upon her arrival, the townsfolk discover the error and attempt to withdraw the offer of employment. Michaela insists, however, that she is up to the challenge, and she is reluctantly offered the job as town doctor in Colorado Springs, Colorado. There she starts her own medical clinic in the town, in lieu of being employed by the town directly, giving her autonomy in her medical practice. She also begins actively trying to change the townfolks attitudes toward modern medicine, the Cheyenne and other Native American peoples, and a host of other, more progressive attitudes not entirely shared by the frontier-minded residents. She adopts three children after her friend and their mother, Charlotte Cooper, was bitten by a rattlesnake and succumbs to the venom.