Christiaan Barnard, and his heart transplants
Christiaan Barnard was made famous on 3rd December 1967, when he performed first human to human heart transplant in Cape Town, South Africa. He was just 45 when he performed…
Virginia Apgar, an accidental anesthetist
All medical students are taught Apgar score, a 10-point scale to grade a just-born as healthy or at risk. This has made Virginia Apgar quite immortal. She however was neither…
William Osler and origin of residency in medical training
Medical training is long. Across the globe, students enter the medical school for an initial generic training. When medical students complete this initial 4-5 years of training, they become doctors.…
McDowell performs first successful abdominal surgery: accolades and brickbats
In December of 1809, Ephraim McDowell performed an abdominal surgery, and successfully removed a large ovarian tumor. This was many decades before Anesthesia was invented, and at a time when…
Malpighi and beyond: Italian legacy with a microscope
Malpighi and discovery of capillaries Marcello Malpighi, was born in Italy in the year 1628. It was the same year, when an English Physician William Harvey had discovered circulation of…
Helmholtz made it possible to look inside the eye
It is extremely rare for a medical doctor to eventually become a Professor of physics. Further, he not only invented opthalmoscope - an instrument we use to look inside an…
Widal: A century old blood test and its creator
Widal test is commonly used across tropical countries, in an attempt to find out if a person with fever, has typhoid. This popular test is named after its creator, Georges-Fernand-Isidor…
How did armies started having their own medical corps
Injuries were expected during wars, but neither doctors nor individuals with medical know-how were an integral part of the armed forces. These were either volunteers, or could be requisitioned for…
Some Military medics who made it to philately
Across the world military employs medical doctors in its workforce. This tradition is ancient, and can be traced back to Roman times. While primary task of these military medics was…
Hodgkin and Pauling: Two friends with a common cause
This blog is an incredible tale about two scientists, both Nobel laureates, who eventually became friends for life. Dorothy Hodgkin, was a British Chemist was third woman ever to win…