On graduation Gordon became a house surgeon at
Dunedin Hospital. In 1917 she lectured at the
University of Otago, qualified with a Diploma in Public Health and married fellow medical graduate William (Bill) Patteson Pollock Gordon. She decided early in her career to devote herself to country practice. She became known as 'Dr Doris', synonymous with 'back blocks' (i.e. rural) practice, later publishing two volumes of her autobiography,
Backblocks baby-doctor and
Doctor down under. Gordon was devoted to midwifery care, in particular safe, pain free childbirth. She pioneered anaesthesia in childbirth or '
twilight sleep' using
morphine and
scopolamine, as well as
Caesarian sections. She gained an MD in 1924 with her thesis entitled
Scopolamine – Morphine Narcosis in Childbirth. The Society promoted its aims for better recognition of the practice of obstetrics through meetings, lecture tours, scholarships and liaison with the Department of Health. In 1938 the Queen Mary Hospital in Dunedin opened providing obstetrical training for medical students. Gordon commenced lobbying for better training at the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Meeting in London in 1939 by enlisting support from expatriates
John Stallworthy,
Robert Hawksworth and
Robert Macintosh. After an NZOGS meeting in 1940 Gordon found an ally in her quest in
Douglas Robb and support from women's organisations including the
National Council of Women. Arguments for postgraduate training and a dedicated hospital included the inability of Queen Mary Hospital to train undergraduates as well as postgraduates, the need to provide training in New Zealand because of the war and to attract overseas trained specialists back to the country. A Postgraduate School of Obstetrics and Gynaecology was set up at
Auckland University College in 1947, becoming based at
National Women's Hospital in 1964. From 1946–1948 Gordon became Director of Maternal and Infant Welfare in the Health Department. == Awards ==