Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Matthew Hill

  • Ignaz Semmelweis: The original hand hygiene pioneer

    Matthew HillAbdullah MubarikJulius BonelloPeoria, Illinois, United States Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (1818–1865) was born on July 1, 1818, in Budapest, Hungary. He was the son of a wealthy grocer and the fifth of ten children. While little is known of his childhood, he would eventually go on to study law at the University of Vienna in…

  • Helen Taussig

    Matthew HillAbdullah MubarikJulius BonelloPeoria, Illinois, United States Standing outside of the operating room, Helen Taussig was beside herself. Fifteen-month-old Eileen Saxon, a “blue baby” born with a congenital heart malformation that deprived the body of oxygenated blood, was undergoing a procedure that Taussig had conceived and recommended to the surgeon. Despite the surgeon’s success with…

  • Childbirth’s hidden revolution: The origins of obstetric forceps

    Mariam BanoubMatthew HillJulius BonelloPeoria, Illinois, United States The Chamberlen family of barber-surgeons had a secret, an invention unknown to anyone else at the time. They protected this invention at all costs, even when it cost a human life. To ensure their secrecy, they always arrived at a patient’s home in a highly decorated carriage. Assistants…