Page:A cyclopedia of American medical biography vol. 1.djvu/32

 INTRODUCTION

Surgery.

There is a tendency among surgical writers of most nationalities to overestimate the importance of achievements by their own countrymen. This is perfectly natural, and, unless something is radically wrong with the individual, it is difficult for him not to give his own people relatively first place in the world's history. Besides this natural prejudice, the difficulties of a foreign language lead many to overlook valuable publica- tions. This has not been altogether true of American surgeons in the past. The leaders in the profession have been well educated, and they have keenly felt the shortcomings of American medical education.

Influence of European Schools. — In the early days, the influence of well established teachings and practice of older centers of medical educa- tion must have been greater than we can now well appreciate. The number who had studied abroad formed a considerable proportion of the surgeons in our sparsely populated country. London then easily held the first place in the world's surgery. A common language and the ties of blood probably also tended to turn many toward British centers of education. Among the early leaders in surgery whose work was doubtless strongly influenced by study abroad were: Valentine Mott and J. Kearny Rogers, of New York, and Benjamin Winslow Dudley, of Lexington, Ken- tucky, all of whom studied under Sir Astley Cooper and Abernethy in London. Rogers also studied under Brodie in London ; Dudley under Lar- rey and Boyer in Paris; Mott under Bell and Munro in Edinburgh. Wright Post, of New York, was a student of Richard Bailey and Sheldon in London. Philip Syng Physick, of Philadelphia, was for four years under John Hunter in London. Probably Edinburgh had an influence second only to that of London; Ephriam McDowell, Nathan Smith and Valentine Mott all having come under the influence of the Bells and Munro. Going to European countries where more uniformly high standards of work pre- vailed to complete their studies, many students failed to keep in touch with the scattered articles by men of genius and high attainment in their own country. Also, in many cases, noteworthy achievements of Ameri- can surgeons were not published at all until a number of years after accomplishment, and many articles of high merit appeared in unimpor- tant medical journals with a small circulation. It is not surprising these did not reach even their own countrymen, to say nothing of progressive men in foreign countries.

Surgical Students and Founders. — Not alone do those deserve the honor and gratitude of the profession and the public who have for the first time performed some life-saving and daring operation, but also those who have discovered some great principle, such as anesthesia, or developed a new field of surgery, as in gynecology.