Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Colin Phoon

  • The remarkable Harriet Lane

    Colin K. L. PhoonNew York, New York, United States The name “Harriet Lane” is well-known to many pediatricians, but perhaps fewer recognize this woman’s other roles in US history (Hint: She was not a pediatrician!). In fact, the US presidency, the military, and pediatric medicine are all linked to the name “Harriet Lane.” Who was…

  • The origins of pediatrics as a clinical and academic specialty in the United States

    Colin Phoon New York, USA   Children’s ward, Bellevue Hospital, New York, ca. 1897 (Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine, NLM ID# 101435915) In the long timeline of medicine, pediatrics is a recent clinical field. The first children’s hospital in the world was established in Paris in 1802, followed by the Hospital for Sick…