The Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women was founded by Dr Sophia Jex-Blake in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1886, with support from the National Association for Promoting the Medical Education of Women. It was 10 years since the first UK women had been licensed to practise as doctors, and female medical education was in its early days; it would be another 6 years before Scottish universities would admit women students. Jex-Blake had friends in Edinburgh, as well as opponents, from her earlier unsuccessful campaign to persuade the University of Edinburgh to educate women in their medical school. She arranged for the new women students to gain clinical experience at Leith Hospital.