Tag: Kevin Loughlin
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The privilege of caring for three Nobel laureates and learning from another
Kevin LoughlinBoston, Massachusetts, United States My experience with Nobel laureates began on Monday, July 2, 1979. The previous weekend, I had started my urology residency at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston. The outgoing resident had signed out the urology service to me the evening before and mentioned, “Doctor Harrison has a suprapubic prostatectomy booked…
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Strabismo di Venere—Michelangelo’s David
Kevin R. LoughlinBoston, Massachusetts, United States It is one of the most recognizable sculptures in Western art, the work of an acclaimed Renaissance artist. For over 600 years, it has been viewed by millions of tourists and by millions more in photographs or books. Yet until recently, an obvious physical abnormality had gone largely unrecognized.…
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W.W. Keen: Physician to the presidents
Kevin R. LoughlinBoston, Massachusetts, United States William Williams Keen served in the American Civil War and was present at the first and second Battle of Bull Run and Antietam.1 His battlefield experience led him to publish in 1864 “Gunshot Wounds and other Injuries of the Nerves and Reflex Paralysis.” He would become one of the…
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A history of blood transfusion: A confluence of science—in peace, in war, and in the laboratory
Kevin LoughlinBoston, Massachusetts The rudimentary lights provided only dim illumination of the operative field. The three British army surgeons worked feverishly to save the life of the young soldier, Corporal Smith, who had a significant liver injury. He had already lost a liter of blood during transport from the front. As the surgeons continued their…
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It’s elementary: The addictions of Sherlock Holmes
Kevin R. LoughlinBoston, Massachusetts, USA One might ask, why write about the addictions of a fictional character? The answer is that there is often a fine line between reality and fiction. The New York Times columnist Bret Stephens recently quoted a survey that found 20% of British teenagers thought that Winston Churchill was a fictional…
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Joseph Warren: The forgotten founder
Kevin R. LoughlinBoston, Massachusetts, United States “If Warren had lived, Washington would have remained an obscurity.”– Peter Oliver, former chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court On June 17, a late spring New England morning, thousands of Bostonians will begin their day by traveling over the Zakim Bridge. Few will be aware of the significance…
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Salk and Sabin: The disease, the rivalry and the vaccine
Kevin R. LoughlinBoston, MA, United States Jonas Salk was born in a tenement in the East Harlem section of New York City. Albert Sabin was born in Poland and as a child immigrated to the United States with his parents. From these humble beginnings, they would emerge as two of the preeminent scientists of their…
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The blade
Kevin LoughlinBoston, Massachusetts, USA The blade slashes through the skinNot in violenceBut in cureIt is held not by an assailantBut by a surgeon The same instrumentBut with such cross purposesAs a surgeon, I know the fear and anticipationThat proceeds the strikeAssailants must feel the same Ironic, violence and healingBoth take training and skillMysteries both, which…