Surgery
On Saturday, I was a surgeon in South Africa, very little known. On Monday, I was world renowned - Christiaan Barnard
image by: Public Domain
HWN Recommends
This Won't Hurt a Bit: A Bloody (and Painful) History of Surgery
Picture a surgical scene of today. Sterile room, harsh bright lights. The monitors beep to let the surgical team know you’re alive. All you can see are the eyes—and only the eyes—peeking out from the mass of scrubs, gloves and caps.
If you should ever undergo surgery in your lifetime, you can rest soundly knowing that your experience will be virtually pain free, that your chances of coming out of surgery alive have never been higher.
But it hasn’t always been this way.
Surgeries weren’t always so neat and clean. They didn’t always have such happy endings. In fact, surgeries weren’t even considered relatively safe until less than a hundred years ago. Surgeries…
Resources
American Surgical Instruments: An illustrated history of their manufacture...
At the end of the 12th century, King Richard the Lion-Hearted (ruled 1189 to 1199) lay on his deathbed, attended by both physicians and surgeons. This is the first European reference we have to a division between the fields of medical and surgical practice. In subsequent centuries, physicians and surgeons vied with one another for position in the medical marketplace. Eventually, unification, by way of medical education, took place in the modern system.
History Of Brain Surgery
Brain surgery is perhaps the oldest of the practiced medical arts. No hard evidence exists suggesting a beginning to the practice of other facets of medicine such as pharmacology -- using drugs, chemical and natural ingredients to help a fellow human being.
History of Plastic Surgery
Self-improvement is essential to the nature of mankind. Progress would halt without the individual's pursuit of learning and enlightenment, peace with his or her neighbors and more efficient means to work. Because human beings have always sought self-fulfillment through self-improvement, plastic surgery -- improving and restoring form and function -- may be one of the world's oldest healing arts.
Surgery Museum Makes You Grateful for Any Modern Healthcare
Granddads would have you believe things were better in the good ol’ days, but a short stroll through the International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago makes liars of them all.
The History of Cosmetic Surgery
History suggests that cosmetic surgery procedures have been in existence for centuries. The types of plastic surgery and augmentation procedures we see today were already used by surgeons back in the early 1800s.
This Won't Hurt a Bit: A Bloody (and Painful) History of Surgery
If you should ever undergo surgery in your lifetime, you can rest soundly knowing that your experience will be virtually pain free, that your chances of coming out of surgery alive have never been higher. But it hasn’t always been this way.
International Museum of Surgical Science
The mission of the Museum is to enrich people's lives by enhancing their appreciation and understanding of the history, development, and advances of surgery and related subjects in health and medicine.
Surgeons' Hall Museums
The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh was founded in 1505, with the Museum collections growing from 1699 after 'natural and artificial curiosities' were publically sought. In the 1800s, the Museum had expanded to include the remarkable collections of Sir Charles Bell and John Barclay. Initially established as a medical teaching resource, access for all is now a priority and visitors can explore The Pathology Museum, The History of Surgery Museum upper and lower (floors) and the Dental Museum.
International Museum of Surgical Science
Dr. Max Thorek founded the International College of Surgeons (ICS) in 1935, with the goals of promoting the exchange of surgical knowledge worldwide. The Museum was originally conceived as the ICS Hall of Fame, and as a repository for its growing collection of historically significant surgical instrumentation, artworks and manuscripts. Today, the Museum’s four floors are filled with extraordinary artifacts that interpret the prehistoric through contemporary healing practices.
Science Museum
Surgery is probably no longer the most feared medical procedure. Many of us will go under the surgeon’s knife at some point in our lives. We have come to think of surgery as a safe, painless and reliable method to cure us from illness, but this was not always the case.
Introducing Stitches!
Your Path to Meaningful Connections in the World of Health and Medicine
Connect, Collaborate, and Engage!
Coming Soon - Stitches, the innovative chat app from the creators of HWN. Join meaningful conversations on health and medical topics. Share text, images, and videos seamlessly. Connect directly within HWN's topic pages and articles.
