Toshiko Toyota-Okutsu

Women in Science » Medicine

Dr. Toshiko Toyota-Okutsu was a pioneer in women’s medicine. She was one of the first Asian female physicians in Utah. She attended medical school in Philadelphia during World War II while her Japanese American family was interned at a Japanese internment camp–Minidoka Rolocation Center in the Magic Valley area of Idaho. She started her medical practice in Salt Lake City in 1946 shortly after the war ended. Throughout her career she took care of many immigrant families. By the time of her retirement in the 1980’s and ultimately her death in 1993, she delivered over three generations of babies to countless families.