Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Surgeon

  • 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…

  • A surgeon and a gentleman: the life of James Barry

    Mariel Tishma Chicago, Illinois, United States   Dr. James Barry with John, a servant, and his dog, Psyche. Unknown Artist. c1850.   “Do not consider whether what I say is a young man speaking, but whether my discussion with you is that of a man of understanding.”1 – Dedication of the thesis of James Barry In November of 1809,…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • The village surgeon

    This painting, titled Village Surgeon, is rich in layers and details. In the center of the image the surgeon, quite likely a barber-surgeon, scrapes carefully at the skin of his patient. In the background, a workbench is covered in instruments, two other figures examine potential remedies, a broom is knocked over as if to indicate…

  • 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,…

  • Theme

    AMERICAN HEART PIONEERS Published in November, 2019 H E K T O R A M A     .     ALFRED BLALOCK & VIVIEN THOMAS     1930 Nashville. A twenty-year old African American man, honors student, and son of a carpenter had his eyes set on becoming a physician. This was not unfounded.…

  • 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…

  • Medieval medical diagrams: meanings, audiences, and functions

    Sara Strådal United Kingdom   Diagrams are prevalent in many different types of medieval manuscripts; they are used to illustrate theological and moral concerns as well as scientific and medical theories. In religious manuscripts they have often been investigated and understood in terms of their mnemonic functions. For example, Lucy Freeman Sandler describes how diagrams…

  • 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…