Tag: Ephraim McDowell
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Ephraim McDowell, father of ovariotomy
John RaffenspergerFort Meyers, Florida, United States In 1809, Jane Crawford’s physicians thought she had an overdue pregnancy and called Ephraim McDowell, who lived sixty miles away in Danville, Kentucky.1 McDowell diagnosed an ovarian tumor and advised surgery. McDowell had been born in Virginia, but his family moved to Danville, Kentucky. He served a medical apprenticeship for…
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Thomas Keith: Pioneer photographer and pioneer surgeon
Iain MacintyreEdinburgh, Scotland “His success so far outstripped that of all other operators, that it became a wonder and admiration of surgeons all over the world.”1 So wrote J Marion Sims (1813–1883), arguably the most famous American surgeon of the 19th century and often described as the father of surgical gynecology.2 Sims was describing the…