Author: rjoshimgims

Australian postage stamps on it’s medical legends

Index Home Australia, a continent unknown to the remaining world, was formally colonised by the British in 1788. British sent fleets of convicts, and by 1841 they had more than 1,65,000 of them. With each fleet, came medical personnel, and started setting up hospitals. First tent-hospital was set up in area which is now Sydney in… Continue reading Australian postage stamps on it’s medical legends

Refugee health: distraught and displaced

Index Home Refuge is to seek protection. Thus, a refugees is an individual who looses protection in their country, and is forced to flee. This loss of protection is usually a consequence of war, ethnic strife, or persecution. It may also be due to disasters such as famines or floods. However, current definition requires well founded… Continue reading Refugee health: distraught and displaced

Angiography: How did we start seeing our vessels

Index Home While we knew for a long time, that blood travels inside conduits or vessels, we did not have much of clarity, till the middle of 16th century. It was only in 1540s, when Andreas Vesalius, a surgeon, anatomist and a medical illustrator drew it all. He first dissected actual human cadavers, and produced illustrations… Continue reading Angiography: How did we start seeing our vessels

Medical scientists on Israeli stamps, and their Indian connection

Index Home Israel honoured two medical scientists, with a postage stamp-set in 1994. Both, worked on vaccines to prevent infections that are common in the tropics. Both were born, and received their early schooling in regions that were once part of Russian Empire. Being Jew, and faced with persecution, their families migrated westwards. India benefited from… Continue reading Medical scientists on Israeli stamps, and their Indian connection

A Mold that saved the world

Index Home Some discoveries are serendipitous. Born in 1881, medicine was not an initial choice for Alexander Flemming. He initially studied in a polytechnic and later worked in a shipping office for four years, before enrolling in St Mary’s medical school. In 1906, he had completed MBBS, and was contemplating training in surgery. His colleagues in… Continue reading A Mold that saved the world

A medical scientist forgotten from the public view

Index Home Medical students know a deal about microscopists and scientists Robert Koch (who discovered TB bacillus), Rudolf Virchow (who gave us number of terms in pathology) , and Louis Pasteur (a pioneer in development of fermentation, preservation and vaccines). There may be a number of forgotten scientists, but one I stumbled on recently through a… Continue reading A medical scientist forgotten from the public view

Founders of healing: from ancient to the early medieval times

Index Home Healing is an art, and no one knows it better than the healers themselves. A system of healing is in place, since the beginning of mankind, much before the advent of modern scientific discoveries and invention. Early healers were priests and philosophers. They were a link between mortals beings and the divine. Since… Continue reading Founders of healing: from ancient to the early medieval times

Personalities related to health & medicine in Indian stamps

Index Home India gained its independence on 15th August 1947, and has issued more than 1100 postage stamps that feature a personality. Mahatma Gandhi featured in a first such stamp in 1948. Over next 75 years, 40 of these “person-stamps” were related to healthcare, less than 4% of the total. First twenty five years (1948-73), and… Continue reading Personalities related to health & medicine in Indian stamps

Science gives a gentle nudge to the monarchs !!

Index Home The year 1923 was a landmark of sorts for medical philately. On 25th of May, France issued a Louis Pasteur postage stamp. This was the first time, a medical scientist was on a postage stamp. (Barring E Espajo, a doctor-nationalist leader who had featured on a stamp from Ecuador in 1899). Science had finally… Continue reading Science gives a gentle nudge to the monarchs !!