The Pre-Anschluss Vienna School of Medicine - The surgeons: Ignaz Semmelweis (1818-1865), Theodor Billroth (1829-1894) and Robert Barany (1876-1936)
A brief history of the Vienna School of Medicine is sketched out from its founding in the mid-18th century by Gerard van Swieten until the Anschluss in March 1938. The pioneering work of Ignaz Semmelweis on the causes and the prevention of puerperal fever is discussed. This is followed by ground-breaking innovations, particularly in abdominal surgery, by Theodor Billroth and by Robert Bárány’s Nobel Prize winning work inter alia on defining the pathology and physiology of the human vestibular apparatus. The lives and work of these three outstanding medical practitioners are described, together with thei...
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - February 12, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Shaw, L. B., Shaw, R. A. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
George Murray Levick (1876-1956), Antarctic explorer
Murray Levick is best known for being one of the surgeons on Scott’s Terra Nova Antarctic expedition (1910–1913) and, as a member of the Northern Party of that expedition, spending a winter living in a snow hole when the ship was unable to collect the men. However, his career encompassed much more than that. He served in the Royal Navy during both World Wars and was a pioneer in physical medicine and rehabilitation. He also founded the British Schools Exploring Society. (Source: Journal of Medical Biography)
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - February 12, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Guly, H. R. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Hindsight
(Source: Journal of Medical Biography)
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - February 12, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Wilson, M. Tags: Editorial Source Type: research
Editorial
(Source: Journal of Medical Biography)
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - February 12, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Larner, A. Tags: Editorial Source Type: research
Referees to thank November 2015
(Source: Journal of Medical Biography)
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - October 13, 2015 Category: History of Medicine Tags: Anniversaries Source Type: research
Alois Alzheimer (1864-1915)
(Source: Journal of Medical Biography)
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - October 13, 2015 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Hunting, P. Tags: Anniversaries Source Type: research
Goldilocks or Granny?: Portrayals of deafness in the English novel
This paper examines the portrayal of characters that are deaf in 29 English novels written over 300 years by mainstream authors for a largely hearing readership. Their attributes are examined with particular reference to the mode of communication, education, medical intervention and issues of identity, and as to how far these portrayals resonate with the experience of persons with hearing loss by comparison to contemporary deaf narratives. The reasons why hearing authors include such representations are considered and two categories of iconic character are identified – ‘Goldilocks’ and ‘Granny&rsquo...
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - October 13, 2015 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Dakin, P. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Daniel Alcides Carrion (1857-1885) and a history of medical martyrdom
Daniel Carrion, a sixth-year medical student, died while investigating the effects of self-inoculation of the causative organism of Oroya Fever and Bartonellosis and thereby contributed to understanding of the disease before the organisms had been identified. (Source: Journal of Medical Biography)
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - October 13, 2015 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Chatterjee, P., Chandra, S., Biswas, T. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Sir John Struthers (1823-1899), Professor of Anatomy in the University of Aberdeen (1863-1889), President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (1895-1897)
Between 1841 and 1845 John Struthers attended both the University of Edinburgh and some of the various Extra-mural Schools of Medicine associated with Surgeons’ Hall. While a medical student he became a Member of the Hunterian Medical Society of Edinburgh and later was elected one of their Annual Presidents. He graduated with the MD Edin and obtained both the LRCS Edin and the FRCS Edin diplomas in 1845. Shortly afterwards he was invited to teach Anatomy in Dr Handyside’s Extra-mural School in Edinburgh. The College of Surgeons certified him to teach Anatomy in October 1847. He had two brothers, and all three r...
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - October 13, 2015 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Kaufman, M. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Sir Astley Paston Cooper (1768-1841): The man and his personality
The most acclaimed surgeon of his time, Astley Cooper, a man from Norfolk and a student of the eminent John Hunter, was an outstandingly successful surgeon. With his accomplishments in surgery and experiments in dissection he soon became a prominent figure and received recognition worldwide. At the young age of 21 he was appointed Demonstrator in Anatomy at St Thomas’s Hospital in London and two years later was made Joint Lecturer in Anatomy and Surgery. With his passion for anatomy, his love for surgery and his expanding knowledge he became Surgeon to Guy’s Hospital in 1800 and in the same year was elected a F...
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - October 13, 2015 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Doganay, E. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Lest we forget: Edith Cavell 1865-1915
(Source: Journal of Medical Biography)
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - October 13, 2015 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Connor, H. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
The Hospital for Tropical Diseases at Endsleigh Gardens, Euston - 1920-1939
From 1920 until 1939, London’s Hospital for Tropical Diseases sponsored by the Seamen’s Hospital Society was located at Endsleigh Gardens, Euston. Unfortunately, written records of that era were destroyed in air raids on Greenwich in 1940 and 1941. Oral reminiscences documented in this paper help remedy this loss. (Source: Journal of Medical Biography)
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - October 13, 2015 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Cook, G. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
'The chearful haunts': John Armstrong (1709-1779), physician, poet, satirist and leveller of medical knowledge
John Armstrong, the first honours graduate of the University of Edinburgh School of Medicine, was famous in his day for a lengthy didactic poem entitled The Art of Preserving Health (1744). He is now obscure except to scholars specializing in the 18th century and, when discussed at all, often dismissed as a failed physician who wrote mediocre poetry in a quest for money and fame. A new exegesis by Adam Budd exhumes Armstrong as an original voice who offered timely and reassuring advice to Britons as they braced for another epidemic of plague; who depicted illness through the lens of a vulnerable and sympathetic physician, ...
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - October 13, 2015 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Bryan, C. S., Scott, P. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Headache in the writings of Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865)
Mrs Elizabeth Gaskell was a celebrated author of the Victorian era, a friend of both Charles Dickens and Charlotte Brontë and the latter’s first biographer. References to headache in Mrs Gaskell’s six major novels, published between 1848 and 1866 as well as some of her shorter fiction, have been collated. These multiple references suggest that Elizabeth Gaskell used headache as a narrative device, possibly based on her own experience of headache and that of female acquaintances, most notably Charlotte Brontë. (Source: Journal of Medical Biography)
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - October 13, 2015 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Larner, A. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Poet and profligate: the secrets of Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin's (1799-1837) personality and maladies
Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799–1837) was one of the great figures of Russian poetry and literature. There are numerous publications about his life, adventures and creative work. However, little has been written about his character, mental state and the condition of his wound during his fatal duel. Furthermore, his sexual illnesses and their nature were discussed even less. This paper attempts to lift the veil from this mystery. (Source: Journal of Medical Biography)
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - October 13, 2015 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Lerner, V., Witztum, E. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
