For the first time ever, women made up the majority of applicants to U.S. medical schools for the 2003-2004 school year. 17,672 of almost 35,000 applicants were female. Since 1997, the number of male applicants had been declining, but it leveled off this year. The National Library of Medicine has an online exhibit devoted to Elizabeth Blackwell, the first American woman to receive a medical degree.