Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Matthew David Turner

  • A “semi-slaughter and a scandal of surgery”: The first documented tracheostomy in history

    Matthew TurnerHershey, Pennsylvania, United States Surgical tracheostomy has been known to humans for thousands of years. The ancient Hindu book of medicine, the Rig Veda, dating to approximately 2000 BC, discusses the healing of throat incisions; the ancient Egyptians may have been aware of the technique as well. According to legend, Alexander the Great used…

  • Preventing the next Mengele

    Matthew TurnerMcChord, Washington, United States The icy November wind cut like a knife through his dress uniform, down to his very bones, but the young doctor did not move a muscle. Like a statue, he stared ahead with the other men in the column at the podium before them. There was a speaker up there,…