Tag: Constance E. Putnam
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Lajos Markusovszky: Semmelweis’s best friend
Constance PutnamConcord, Massachusetts, United States The name “Ignaz Semmelweis” is at least vaguely familiar to many people, even if they need reminding that he was “the hand-washing guy.” He was the first fully to grasp why so many apparently healthy women died in childbirth. His hypothesis (which he supported with elaborate if sometimes-flawed statistics) was…
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Doctor’s daughter: reflections on a family’s role in a physician’s practice
Constance PutnamConcord, Massachusetts, United States Schoolyard taunts generally convey an obvious message to all who hear them: “Fatso,” “Four Eyes,” “Slowpoke,” “Dumbo.” One directed at me when I was a child, however, baffled me: “You think you’re so smart, just ’cause your dad’s a doctor!” To be sure, my dad was a doctor, which I…