Tag: World War I
-
“Mental Cases” by Wilfred Owen: The suffering of soldiers in World War I
Alice MacNeill Oxford, United Kingdom Wilfred Owen plate from Poems (1920). Internet Archive via Wikimedia. Public domain. Who are these? Why sit they here in twilight? Wherefore rock they, purgatorial shadows, Drooping tongues from jaws that slob their relish, Baring teeth that leer like skulls’ tongues wicked? Stroke on stroke of pain, — but…
-
Women changing medicine
Lesley CampbellDarlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia This is my account of three generations of women doctors in my family who in different times and different places were subjected to persecution or at least discrimination because of their race, religion, and gender. The account is written in the hope that society in general and medicine in…
-
The Polish White Cross – birthed on American soil to support Polish soldiers abroad
Magdalena Grassmann Bialystok, Poland Eva Niklinska Nashville, Tennessee, USA Helena Paderewska with the nurses of The Polish White Cross, 1918 Polish White Cross Symbol Polish medical heritage in the United States has a long history built on the efforts of Polish physicians, nurses, and pharmacists in many American universities, hospitals, and private practices.…
-
Ludwik Fleck, physician in Lwow Ghetto
George M. Weisz Sydney, Australia Andrzej Grzybowski Poland Dr. Ludwik Fleck, a pioneer in the early diagnosis of infectious diseases, was born in 1896 in Lwow, then known as Lemberg and until World War I, part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Graduating from Lwow University Medical School, Dr. Fleck became interested in medical research and…
-
Cournand and Richards: Pioneers in cardiopulmonary physiology
Philip R. LiebsonChicago, Illinois, United States During World War I among the allied forces were an artillery lieutenant just out of college and a medical student who acted as an auxiliary battle surgeon because of the high mortality among battalion surgeons. They were, respectively, Dickinson W. Richards, Jr. (1895—1973) and Andre Cournand (1895—1988). Eventually they…
-
Medical and scientific innovations arising from warfare
Brian OmondiNairobi, Kenya Perhaps the only bright side of war is that it impels nations to make medical and scientific innovations. War has long been portrayed as being the best school for surgeons and even for doctors.1 An association between medical services and the military can be traced back to ancient Greece, and the link has…