She was born into a prominent family, as her father was a colonel, the first US presidential consul to Japan, and the inventor of railway brakes and other innovations discussed at length in Scientific American.
[1][2] Rice and "Nettie" Sumner enrolled in Georgetown's medical program, and they began their coursework in the autumn of 1880.
"[7][8] Joseph Taber Johnson MD, of the obstetrics faculty of Georgetown University Medical Center, published an editorial in the Maryland Medical Journal endorsing her new application of Le Fort's procedure, and recommending her thesis for publication.
[12] Their type of patient-centered care set a new standard for women's health, and they were also able to offer clinical experience for other woman doctors who were graduating.
[13] Clinics were strictly segregated in those years, so they opened one at 937 New York Avenue to care for women of color.