Tag: Surgeon
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Potts and Pott
John RaffenspergerFort Meyer, Florida, United States Willis Potts and Percival Pott were both highly skilled surgeons, prolific authors, and contributed to the surgical care of children. Percival Pott (1714–1788) Percival Pott, at age fifteen, apprenticed to Edward Nourse, a surgeon at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. He paid 210 pounds for his seven-year apprenticeship. Pott attended lectures…
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Bad blood: The drama of bloodshed
Emily BoyleDublin, Ireland In some professions, bloodstained clothing is a normal part of the job. The two jobs that come to mind principally are a butcher and a vascular surgeon, although the latter would probably prefer not to be associated with the former! In vascular surgery not every operation results in bloodstained scrubs, although for…
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Becoming a doctor in Chicago (c. 1954)—Clerkships at Michael Reese Hospital
Peter BerczellerEdited by Paul Berczeller An excerpt from Dr. Peter Berczeller’s memoir, The Little White Coat. After Cook County, my group and I moved over to Michael Reese Hospital—a pile of old buildings on the near South Side—for our surgical clerkship. Each of us was assigned to a resident and told to stick to him…
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Preparation for surgery
A nurse and a surgeon, both wearing gown and mask. Etching by H.A. Freeth. Copyright M, A and R Freeth. CC BY This simple drawing of a nurse and surgeon preparing for work captures the tension in the moment just before surgery begins. Though only a small portion of either figure’s face is visible,…
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Learning compassion – learning forgiveness
Larry ZaroffCalifornia, United States I once made a technical error that injured a patient. An error of commission. Distressed, I wrote to several cardiac surgeons with whom I was acquainted through training or practice. I asked if they had made similar mistakes and how they were dealing with their mistakes. Were they embarrassed, ashamed? Did…
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JB Murphy: Chicago’s great but controversial surgeon
Patrick GuinanGeorge DuneaChicago, Illinois, United States The grand surgical auditorium of the American College of Surgeons in Chicago still bears the name of JB Murphy, the tall, slim, blue-eyed boy from Appleton, Wisconsin, born in 1857 on a farm into an Irish family that escaped the horrors of the potato famine to make a new…