The importance of medical history in the annals of surgery has been frequently underemphasized. There is so much we can learn from the deeds and examples of our predecessors. There is so much we can admire in their lives and contributions. There is so much we can use to guide our professional development.This book introduces writings on the history
Great advances in a medical or surgical discipline originate from courageous and unabashed, committed professionals who are fearless in exploring new avenues of management or treatment. Great advances in the chosen field are dependent on those who think and practice innovation and discovery. Great advances in selected or wide areas of medicine or s
Many surgical revolutions distinguish the history and evolution of surgery. Some are small, others more dominant, but each revolution improves the art and science of surgery. Surgical revolutionaries are indispensable in the conception and completion of any surgical revolution, initiating scientific and technological advances that propel surgical practice forward. Surgical revolutionaries can come in the guises of Lister (antisepsis), Halsted (surgical residency and safe surgery), Cushing (safe brain surgery), Wangensteen (gastrointestinal physiological surgery), Blalock (relief of cyanotic heart disease), Lillehei (open heart surgery), and many others. With the hindsight of history, we can recognize patterns of progress, evaluate means of advancing new ideas, and solidify details of innovative behavior that could lead to new surgical revolutions.This volume examines the following vital questions in detail: What is a surgical revolution and how do we recognize one? Are surgical revolutionaries different? Is there a way to educate new surgical revolutionaries? Can history provide enduring examples of surgical revolutions? Are there different kinds of surgical revolutions? What characterizes a surgical revolution in the context of science and technology? What surgical revolutions are on the horizon?
The importance of medical history in the annals of surgery has been frequently underemphasized. There is so much we can learn from the deeds and examples of our predecessors. There is so much we can admire in their lives and contributions. There is so much we can use to guide our professional development.Our principal objective is to reach the minds and hearts of all students of surgery. This encompasses medical students interested in surgery, surgical residents learning the discipline, faculty surgeons teaching young generations of future specialists, and the practicing surgeons who are making a difference in the community. Additionally, and as importantly, this book attempts to reach students of history in general and those interested in the history and philosophy of surgery in particular.Our lofty wish is for this book to reach the halls of academia as well as the surgical floors of general hospitals where students, residents, and staff surgeons attend their pre and postoperative patients. Our ultimate desire is that this work will appear during grand rounds and will be a constant companion in the pockets of surgical residents. We further hope that faculty members will frequently test those residents on the extraordinary value of the history of surgery and the wonderful ascent of this prestigious field of medicine.This book introduces writings on the history and philosophy of surgery that previously appeared in the Journal of Investigative Surgery. These writings were selected and organized after careful analysis to include those works that demonstrated the best cohesive unit in telling about the evolution of surgery and its masters. When necessary we made corrections and added references as appeared to be required.We hope these writings will present those who read them with encouraging and realistic views of the incredible feats realized by the pioneers of surgery. We welcome new ideas and suggestions the reader might have in improving future editions of this study on the history of surgery.
This publication is intended as a guide to common diagnostic, operative and percutaneous techniques used in creating and maintaining vascular access for hemodialysis. When writing the text, the authors have focused on surgeons in training, fellows, interventional radiologists and clinically active nephrologists. Dialysis nurses and other clinicians
Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize "A panoramic and perfectly magnificent intellectual history of medicine…This is the book that delivers it all." —Sherwin Nuland, author of How We Die Hailed as "a remarkable achievement" (Boston Globe) and as "a triumph: simultaneously entertaining and instructive, witty and thought-provoking…a splendid and thoroughly engrossing book" (Los Angeles Times), Roy Porter's charting of the history of medicine affords us an opportunity as never before to assess its culture and science and its costs and benefits to mankind. Porter explores medicine's evolution against the backdrop of the wider religious, scientific, philosophical, and political beliefs of the culture in which it develops, covering ground from the diseases of the hunter-gatherers to the more recent threats of AIDS and Ebola, from the clearly defined conviction of the Hippocratic oath to the muddy ethical dilemmas of modern-day medicine. Offering up a treasure trove of historical surprises along the way, this book "has instantly become the standard single-volume work in its field" (The Lancet).
The stories behind drug discovery are fascinating, full of human and scientific interest. This is a book on the history of drug discovery that highlights the intellectual splendor of discoverers as well as the human frailty associated them. History is replete with examples of breakthrough medicines that have saved millions of lives. Ether as an anesthetic by Morton; penicillin as an antibiotic by Fleming; and insulin as an anti-diabetic by Banting are just a few examples. The discoverers of these medicines are doubtlessly benefactors to mankind--for instance, without penicillin, 75% of us probably would not be alive because some of our parents or grandparents would have succumbed to infections. Dr. Jack Li, a medicinal chemist who is intimately involved with drug discovery, has assembled an astounding amount of facts and information behind important drugs through extensive literature research and interviews with many inventors of the drugs including Viagra and Lipitor. There have been many myths and inaccuracies associated with those legendary drugs. The inventors perspectives afforded this book an invaluable accuracy and insight because history is not history unless it is true. The text is supplemented by many anecdotes, pictures and postage stamps. Both specialist and layman will find Laughing Gas, Viagra, and Lipitor informative and entertaining. Students in chemistry, pharmacy, and medicine, workers in healthcare and high school science teachers will find this book most useful.
