 McConnell applied to the University of Colorado School of Medicine in 1920 and was accepted . Although her father had previously paid for 17 men to attend medical school , he refused to pay for Frances ' tuition because he deemed medicine to be " too hard a life for a woman " . She therefore supported herself through medical school by working as a musician in local bars and theaters , as a tutor , and as a laboratory assistant . In November 1925 , she married David L. Mills , a lawyer , and gave birth to a daughter the year after . Although McConnell hyphenated her name to McConnell @-@ Mills , she continued to use her maiden name for her professional career to avoid drawing attention to her children . 
