Tag: A.J. Wright
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“Without dissent”: Early black physicians in Alabama
A.J. WrightBirmingham, Alabama, USA There is a brief but interesting note in the July 1953 issue of the Journal of the National Medical Association, the official voice of the organization founded in 1895 for African-American physicians in the U.S. At first glance this decision by the Medical Association of the State of Alabama—as it was formally…
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Hillman Hospital
A.J. WrightBirmingham, Alabama, United States Alabama’s first operating medical school, the proprietary Graefenberg Medical Institute in the small town of Dadeville, opened in 1852. That school closed at the beginning of the Civil War. The Medical College of Alabama had been chartered by the state in 1856, but no funds provided; a charter from the…
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What November may bring: The first 37 days of surgical anesthesia
A.J. WrightBirmingham, Alabama, United States In medical history October 16 is known as “Ether Day” to commemorate dentist William Morton’s 1846 demonstration of ether inhalation for a surgical patient of Dr. John Collins Warren. The event is often described as the first public ether anesthetic because it took place before an audience of physicians and…
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In the waiting room – Rebecca’s doll
A.J. WrightBirmingham, Pelham, USA Poet’s statement I wrote “In the Waiting Room” after a visit with my mother-in-law to her doctor’s office in Colorado Springs. Passing other offices in the same complex, I noticed an unfinished puzzle on a table. “Rebecca’s doll” is a reflection on my daughter’s youthful fascination with playing “hospital” with her…