Opened her own medical practice in Boston

Around 1835, after several years studying informally under Dr. Richard Dixon and healer Elizabeth Mott, Harriot Hunt opened her own medical consulting rooms in Boston together with her sister Sarah. This step made her one of the very first women in the United States to establish an ongoing medical practice, at a time when no American medical school admitted women and licensure was governed almost entirely by male-dominated institutions.

Hunt practiced a gentler, holistic approach that emphasized preventive care, hygiene, diet, and emotional wellbeing — an implicit critique of the aggressive heroic medicine (bloodletting, purging, mercury dosing) common among orthodox physicians of the day. Her practice, focused especially on women's health, quickly built a loyal clientele who valued her attentive, educational style of care.

Because she lacked a formal medical degree, Hunt's authority rested entirely on her reputation and results rather than institutional credentials, a precarious position that she spent the next two decades trying to legitimize through repeated attempts to gain formal medical education. Her practice is widely cited by historians as a foundational moment in the story of American women's entry into the medical profession, predating Elizabeth Blackwell's formal medical degree by over a decade.

Note: only the year of this milestone is documented in surviving records; the exact month and day are not known.