Comment, if you'd like, on the two great example at the end of the chapter of the training of colonial physicians.
16 comments:
Anonymous
said...
The first great example fromthis chapter is Ephraim McDowell. He was known for his first cystic tumor on her ovary which was the first ovarian operation in history. He had not had a full formal education in the medical field but yet he had done a great operation. This represents how America is full of oppurtunities for everyone regardless of their backround. The second example is William Beaumont who did great resarch on gastric juces in the digestive system. He observed this through a patient which had been shot in the side and though on the extirior the patient had healed his stomach had a hole which had not healed. Like McDowell he had not had nay formal training at a college but only as an apprentice. These men were like Mathers and Franklin in that though they had no formal training they were geniuses and were able to make great leaps in the scientific relm.
Boorstin’s two examples at the end of the chapter show how effective, and even progressive, the American style of doctoring was. He argues that had these men received a formal English education in medicine, rather than an American apprenticeship, they would most likely have acted differently, and perhaps not made the daring decisions they’d made. Ephraim McDowell of the American Backwoods performed the first of what would later be called an ovariotomy. The incredible fact about this procedure was that he performed it with only the knowledge that the woman had a large tumor that needed to be excised. The other medical pioneer mentioned by Boorstin is William Beaumont. He treated a soldier had a hole in his stomach that just wouldn’t close. Since he could not get the hole to close, he took advantage of it by using it to observe firsthand the way in which the human stomach worked. From this research, he wrote Experiments and Observations on the Gastric Juice and the Physiology of Digestion. Boorstin argues that science is much more progressive in a field of observation and learning by experience, such as in America; than it is through research and experimentation, such as in England. And these doctors’ accomplishments definitely give testament to that.
The two examples from the end of this chapter show the current American way of medicine, that Boorstin argued was actually better than in England at the time. The first example was about a doctor named Ephriam McDowell, who did not have a medical degree. He had a woman patient that had an abnormally large tumor in her stomach. Because of his upbringing and free studying style, he had much firsthand experience, so he offered to remove the tumor, even though he had never removed an abdominal tumor before. The procedure would be extremely risky, but it worked. Because of this, he was able to learn and teach about an entirely new path of medicine and treatment. The other doctor, William Beaumont, tried to heal a hole in the side of a man who had been shot. The hole would not close, so he decided to take the oppertunity and study the stomach. He published "Experiments and Observationas on the Gastric Juice and the Physiology of Digestion", which became an outstanding book and the first in the medical area of nutrition. Both of these examples show the way of the all-American doctor, who who would give up his home to take advantage of scientific oppertunities. The risks that these men took contrasted the safe, simulated stuying that happened in England at the time. And because the risks paid off, it proved that observation was more beneficial than learning through books.
The first of the two great examples are the "doctor" Ephraim McDowell, who didn't have any type of medical credentials, but still performed medical operations upon his patients. He manage to successfully remove a tumor from a female patient, showing that someone without a degree could still perform well if they possess experience and good sense. The second example is William Beaumont who viewed a soldier who had been shot in the stomach. Beaumont oberserved through his medium how the stomach digested food and studied the gastric juice. Boorstin's two examples portray the differences between America's doctors' practices and those of England's doctors. The doctors in America were more willing to take risks and even if the procedure wasn't successful, they would still benefit from the experiment because of the influx of knowledge. England's doctors were, more likely than not, unwilling to change procedures that had been in pratice for decades, or even centuries, even if they didn't work, just because of their reluctance to changing their traditions.
In America, doctors were not educated in medical schools and it was not uncommon to find a competent doctors without a medical degree. America was the first to use the apprentice system in order for young men to train. Instead of being stuck in the classroom, the apprentices learned hands on how to practice medicine. This was the case for both doctors Ephraim McDowell and William Beaumont. Both made advancements and history in medicine. Ephraim McDowell was a backwards doctor and although he had studied one year in Edinburgh he did not have a degree. However, through curiosity, he performed the first ovariotomy on a woman he first diagnosed as pregnant. William Beaumont seized a rare opportunity and laid the foundations for physiology of digestion and the science of nutrition.
1. Boorstin’s two great examples of training colonial physicians are Ephraim McDowell and William Beaumont. Ephraim McDowell’s operation showed though America had some “backwards” ways, the country was still full of much opportunity. Ephraim McDowell successfully removed a cystic tumor from a women’s ovary without having much formal training. This was the first ovarian operation in history. He had studied a year in Edinburgh but did not have a medical degree. William Beaumont, an army doctor, studied “gastric fistula” and published “Experiments and Observations on the Gastric Juice and the Physiology of Digestion” after treating a soldier. This book laid foundations studies on nutrition and digestion. When he conducted the study, he also had little medical training, but he trained as an apprentice.
Ephraim McDowell opened up a woman’s stomach because she had a tumor. Although he did not have a Medical degree, he went through surgery with the patient and did the first ovariotomy in history. William Beaumont had only been an apprentice, had a patient who had a gastric fistula that would not heal. He took it upon himself to study this. He did different experiments with this patient and learned how the gastric juices responded to different stimuli. Both McDowell and Beaumont did not have any actually practice or study on these subjects that took it upon themselves to experiment with their patients.
The notion of American practicality and experience over England’s theology and experiments holds true in the medical field as well. Two pioneers in human surgery, Ephraim McDowell and William Beaumont, give evidence to this. McDowell was a “backwoods doctor” who lacked an official medical degree. On December 13, 1809, however, McDowell was able to remove a cystic tumor of the ovary from a woman’s abdominal cavity in only 25 minutes, a practice which he had most definitely not learned during his one year education in Edinburgh. McDowell’s surgery was the first ovariotomy in medical history and came about only due to the unique opportunity provided by forest life in colonial America. Likewise, Beaumont’s discovery of the primary workings of digestion and nutrition would not have arose without the peculiar situations of America. On June 6, 1822, Beaumont, an army doctor, encountered a man with “a load of buckshot in his left side.” Despite his strenuous efforts, Beaumont was unable to heal the wound. So instead, Beaumont took the circumstance provided to him and observed the workings of the gastric juices “and the effects of different stimulants such as tea, coffee, and alcohol” through the gastric fistula of the patient. While, admittedly a bit creepy and disgusting, Beaumont’s notes produced his Experiments and Observations on the Gastric Juice and the Physiology of Digestion which remains a foundation for these medical areas to this day.
Colonial physicians received most of their training during apprenticeships. This created a different kind of doctor in America, compared to the doctors in Europe. In Europe, doctors spent most of their time in the lab, while in America doctors spent most of their time with the patients. This new approach, by the American physicians, is often referred to as the clinical approach. Two men stand out as the "patron saints of American medicine."(pg.238) Ephraim McDowell is the first "patron saint." McDowell went to a year of medical school but never attained a degree. McDowell probably attained most of his medical knowledge as an apprentice. He is important in the history of medicine because he was the first person ever to perform an ovariotomy. McDowell removed a tumor from a woman’s ovary, before anything like anesthesia had been discovered. This woman lived for 35 years after the procedure. This was truly a marvel of its time. The next "patron saint" was William Beaumont. Beaumont received his training while working as an army doctor. Beaumont learned everything he knew about medicine as an apprentice. Beaumont became famous in the medical world because of his observations of the gastric juices in the stomach. A man where Beaumont was stationed managed to receive "a load of buckshot in his left side."(pg. 239) Beaumont healed the man as best he could, but a hole in the man’s stomach that would not heal. Through this hole, Beaumont observed how the stomach worked. After a long while of observation, Beaumont wrote a book about the workings of gastric fluids and digestion. This book became a classic of medicine and laid the foundations for the study of nutrition and the physiology of digestion. Both of these men would not have done these things if they were physicians in Europe.
Both of these examples show the important, and quite amazing, advancements made by American physicians during the colonial period in the clinical and practical field as opposed to in the theoretical field, were they made very few. In McDowell’s situation, there was no precedent for the type of ailment he was faced with, and a physician who received his medical training only through books and laboratory experiments might have had a hard time stepping outside his theoretical thinking in order to make a quick decision in this emergency. McDowell was forced to perform a surgery that had never before been attempted, and not under the best of situations in the backwoods of America, and it must have gone surprisingly well considering the woman was back on her feet after five days. Going from thinking the woman was pregnant to discovering it was really a huge tumor must have come as an enormous shock. Beaumont also put the interesting situation he was in to practical use by making observations of something going on inside of a human’s living body which probably advanced the theoretical knowledge of the day. (My question is, wasn’t it really bizarre for the wounded man to be able to look into his own stomach?) This is another example of how American observations led to enriched European theoretical knowledge.
The first example is Ephraim McDowell, who didn't have a medical degree but performed the first ovariotomy in history. He had never attempted to do it before, had only help from a single apprentice, and performed the surgery in the woods.
The second example is William Beaumont, who didn't have formal medical training either. He performed experiments on the stomach by using a patient's wound (a hole on the side that stayed open). New discoveries and ideas were made about nutrition and digestion because of this. They both are important because they were willing to take risks and see what happened, and ended up improving medical knowledge.
Example number 1. Ephraim McDowell was not a trained medical doctor from England, but he performed what would later be known as an ovariotomy, where he removed a cancerous tumor from a womans ovary. He had performed the first successful ovarian operation in colonial and English history, and this was before the invention of anesthesia. As a result of this operation, the woman lived 35 years after the procedure.
Example number 2. William Beaumont like McDowell was not a trained doctor and was only an apprentice. He became well known for his study of the gastric juices of the stomach and how the stomach worked. He did this by examining a patient who had been shot in the side and as a result, had a hole in his stomach. Here Boorstin argues that American medicine is much better than English medicine at the time. This is because the American apprentices who had no experience didn't know the risks of certain operations so they did them anyway and proved to be successful.
The two examples show not only colonial medical procedure but the American way of thought at the time. The physicians didn't really know what was going on, just like the Colonists were still unsure in their new nation. McDowell's patient, who had a cystic tumor on her ovary, was initially thought to be pregnant. When he finally performed the surgery, it took all of 25 minutes and he didn't really know what was going on, having never performed a major abdominal surgery. He was doing more of an experiment, like the Americans were experimenting with their land. Neither McDowell or the Americans knew what the outcome of their efforts would be but did it and hoped for the best. Beaumont was definitely doing more of an experiment. Since he couldn't fix what was wrong with the man he decided to make the best of the situation and observe instead. the Americans tended to make the best of what they had, took advantage of new opportunities, and often learned through new experiences and observations. It was a case of trial and error because they had no idea what the outcome would be but figured it was best to try, in both the medical cases and the entire colonial experience.
One of these great examples was Ephriam McDowell. McDowell is a good example because he performed the first ever ovariotomy. Despite his lack of an education, McDowell successfully performed the operation, although he had never attempted it before. The other great example was William Beaumont. Similar to McDowell, Beaumont had no formal schooling. He made breakthroughs in nutritional and digestive research because of his willingness to explore a patients open side wound. Both physicians made medical breakthroughs in America,and even though they weren't schooled or trained, they became very important figures in medical history.
The two “doctors” spoke of in the end of this passage are Ephraim McDowell and William Beaumont. The former encountered a woman with a cystic tumor in her abdomen, so large that McDowell at first thought she was pregnant. This doctor definitely had some guts to do an operation that no one had heard of and one that probably even a doctor with a degree wouldn’t have done. The woman the surgery performed on must have probably been pretty tough though, with nothing but psalms as her anesthesia! The surgery proved to be a revolutionary advancement and probably lead the way for doctors in the future to attempt surgery. The second doctor Boorstin speaks of is Beaumont, who had no degree, but observed other physicians treat wounded soldiers. Being an army doctor, he was fortunate to come across a man who had been wounded in the side with buckshot. After treating it to the best of his abilities he noticed there still was a hole in his patient’s stomach. He didn’t find a treatment, however he offered to take care of the patient in return for the observation of his stomach and its gastric juices. I think this proposal is on the rather grotesque side, but regardless, it made some pretty important advances in the science of the digestive system. Both of these doctors (and patients) were very courageous in experimenting with the unknown.
The two great examples Boorstin references at the end of the chapter are Ephriam McDowell (1771-1830)and William Beaumont (1785-1853). McDowell, a doctor without a medical degree, performed the first ovariotomy in history because of the lack of specialists in early colonial America. At the time, the only "surgeries" performed were minor, including amputations, closing of ruptures and removal of stones. Encountering a woman with an abdominal tumor so large he initially thought was a pregnancy, McDowell set off to perform the first abdominal operation in the new world with only an apprentice nephew, and his patient lived more than 30 years longer. This advance could never have occured for McDowell had he been in England and surrounded by educated professional specialists, but despite his bare-bones medical education, McDowell managed to perform an advanced operation in the middle of nowhere. The second, Beaumont, was an apprentice-trained doctor stationed at Fort Mackinac. Unable to close the stomach wound of a shot fur trader, he instead took the man to his own home and observed the stomach, gastric juices and "effects of different stimulants" without books or laboratories. He published his book, Experiments and Observations on the Gastric Juice and the Physiology of Digestion, in 1833, and it became a "classic of clinical medicine". Both of these stories calls into perspective the juxtaposition of lack of specialists and open opportunity. Had the appropriate doctors for each operation been there, perhaps McDowell would never have opened up that stomach, nor Beaumont had the opportunity to observe one.
16 comments:
The first great example fromthis chapter is Ephraim McDowell. He was known for his first cystic tumor on her ovary which was the first ovarian operation in history. He had not had a full formal education in the medical field but yet he had done a great operation. This represents how America is full of oppurtunities for everyone regardless of their backround.
The second example is William Beaumont who did great resarch on gastric juces in the digestive system. He observed this through a patient which had been shot in the side and though on the extirior the patient had healed his stomach had a hole which had not healed. Like McDowell he had not had nay formal training at a college but only as an apprentice. These men were like Mathers and Franklin in that though they had no formal training they were geniuses and were able to make great leaps in the scientific relm.
Boorstin’s two examples at the end of the chapter show how effective, and even progressive, the American style of doctoring was. He argues that had these men received a formal English education in medicine, rather than an American apprenticeship, they would most likely have acted differently, and perhaps not made the daring decisions they’d made. Ephraim McDowell of the American Backwoods performed the first of what would later be called an ovariotomy. The incredible fact about this procedure was that he performed it with only the knowledge that the woman had a large tumor that needed to be excised. The other medical pioneer mentioned by Boorstin is William Beaumont. He treated a soldier had a hole in his stomach that just wouldn’t close. Since he could not get the hole to close, he took advantage of it by using it to observe firsthand the way in which the human stomach worked. From this research, he wrote Experiments and Observations on the Gastric Juice and the Physiology of Digestion. Boorstin argues that science is much more progressive in a field of observation and learning by experience, such as in America; than it is through research and experimentation, such as in England. And these doctors’ accomplishments definitely give testament to that.
The two examples from the end of this chapter show the current American way of medicine, that Boorstin argued was actually better than in England at the time. The first example was about a doctor named Ephriam McDowell, who did not have a medical degree. He had a woman patient that had an abnormally large tumor in her stomach. Because of his upbringing and free studying style, he had much firsthand experience, so he offered to remove the tumor, even though he had never removed an abdominal tumor before. The procedure would be extremely risky, but it worked. Because of this, he was able to learn and teach about an entirely new path of medicine and treatment. The other doctor, William Beaumont, tried to heal a hole in the side of a man who had been shot. The hole would not close, so he decided to take the oppertunity and study the stomach. He published "Experiments and Observationas on the Gastric Juice and the Physiology of Digestion", which became an outstanding book and the first in the medical area of nutrition.
Both of these examples show the way of the all-American doctor, who who would give up his home to take advantage of scientific oppertunities. The risks that these men took contrasted the safe, simulated stuying that happened in England at the time. And because the risks paid off, it proved that observation was more beneficial than learning through books.
The first of the two great examples are the "doctor" Ephraim McDowell, who didn't have any type of medical credentials, but still performed medical operations upon his patients. He manage to successfully remove a tumor from a female patient, showing that someone without a degree could still perform well if they possess experience and good sense. The second example is William Beaumont who viewed a soldier who had been shot in the stomach. Beaumont oberserved through his medium how the stomach digested food and studied the gastric juice. Boorstin's two examples portray the differences between America's doctors' practices and those of England's doctors. The doctors in America were more willing to take risks and even if the procedure wasn't successful, they would still benefit from the experiment because of the influx of knowledge. England's doctors were, more likely than not, unwilling to change procedures that had been in pratice for decades, or even centuries, even if they didn't work, just because of their reluctance to changing their traditions.
In America, doctors were not educated in medical schools and it was not uncommon to find a competent doctors without a medical degree. America was the first to use the apprentice system in order for young men to train. Instead of being stuck in the classroom, the apprentices learned hands on how to practice medicine. This was the case for both doctors Ephraim McDowell and William Beaumont. Both made advancements and history in medicine. Ephraim McDowell was a backwards doctor and although he had studied one year in Edinburgh he did not have a degree. However, through curiosity, he performed the first ovariotomy on a woman he first diagnosed as pregnant. William Beaumont seized a rare opportunity and laid the foundations for physiology of digestion and the science of nutrition.
1. Boorstin’s two great examples of training colonial physicians are Ephraim McDowell and William Beaumont. Ephraim McDowell’s operation showed though America had some “backwards” ways, the country was still full of much opportunity. Ephraim McDowell successfully removed a cystic tumor from a women’s ovary without having much formal training. This was the first ovarian operation in history. He had studied a year in Edinburgh but did not have a medical degree. William Beaumont, an army doctor, studied “gastric fistula” and published “Experiments and Observations on the Gastric Juice and the Physiology of Digestion” after treating a soldier. This book laid foundations studies on nutrition and digestion. When he conducted the study, he also had little medical training, but he trained as an apprentice.
Ephraim McDowell opened up a woman’s stomach because she had a tumor. Although he did not have a Medical degree, he went through surgery with the patient and did the first ovariotomy in history.
William Beaumont had only been an apprentice, had a patient who had a gastric fistula that would not heal. He took it upon himself to study this. He did different experiments with this patient and learned how the gastric juices responded to different stimuli. Both McDowell and Beaumont did not have any actually practice or study on these subjects that took it upon themselves to experiment with their patients.
The notion of American practicality and experience over England’s theology and experiments holds true in the medical field as well. Two pioneers in human surgery, Ephraim McDowell and William Beaumont, give evidence to this. McDowell was a “backwoods doctor” who lacked an official medical degree. On December 13, 1809, however, McDowell was able to remove a cystic tumor of the ovary from a woman’s abdominal cavity in only 25 minutes, a practice which he had most definitely not learned during his one year education in Edinburgh. McDowell’s surgery was the first ovariotomy in medical history and came about only due to the unique opportunity provided by forest life in colonial America. Likewise, Beaumont’s discovery of the primary workings of digestion and nutrition would not have arose without the peculiar situations of America. On June 6, 1822, Beaumont, an army doctor, encountered a man with “a load of buckshot in his left side.” Despite his strenuous efforts, Beaumont was unable to heal the wound. So instead, Beaumont took the circumstance provided to him and observed the workings of the gastric juices “and the effects of different stimulants such as tea, coffee, and alcohol” through the gastric fistula of the patient. While, admittedly a bit creepy and disgusting, Beaumont’s notes produced his Experiments and Observations on the Gastric Juice and the Physiology of Digestion which remains a foundation for these medical areas to this day.
Colonial physicians received most of their training during apprenticeships. This created a different kind of doctor in America, compared to the doctors in Europe. In Europe, doctors spent most of their time in the lab, while in America doctors spent most of their time with the patients. This new approach, by the American physicians, is often referred to as the clinical approach. Two men stand out as the "patron saints of American medicine."(pg.238) Ephraim McDowell is the first "patron saint." McDowell went to a year of medical school but never attained a degree. McDowell probably attained most of his medical knowledge as an apprentice. He is important in the history of medicine because he was the first person ever to perform an ovariotomy. McDowell removed a tumor from a woman’s ovary, before anything like anesthesia had been discovered. This woman lived for 35 years after the procedure. This was truly a marvel of its time.
The next "patron saint" was William Beaumont. Beaumont received his training while working as an army doctor. Beaumont learned everything he knew about medicine as an apprentice. Beaumont became famous in the medical world because of his observations of the gastric juices in the stomach. A man where Beaumont was stationed managed to receive "a load of buckshot in his left side."(pg. 239) Beaumont healed the man as best he could, but a hole in the man’s stomach that would not heal. Through this hole, Beaumont observed how the stomach worked. After a long while of observation, Beaumont wrote a book about the workings of gastric fluids and digestion. This book became a classic of medicine and laid the foundations for the study of nutrition and the physiology of digestion. Both of these men would not have done these things if they were physicians in Europe.
Both of these examples show the important, and quite amazing, advancements made by American physicians during the colonial period in the clinical and practical field as opposed to in the theoretical field, were they made very few. In McDowell’s situation, there was no precedent for the type of ailment he was faced with, and a physician who received his medical training only through books and laboratory experiments might have had a hard time stepping outside his theoretical thinking in order to make a quick decision in this emergency. McDowell was forced to perform a surgery that had never before been attempted, and not under the best of situations in the backwoods of America, and it must have gone surprisingly well considering the woman was back on her feet after five days. Going from thinking the woman was pregnant to discovering it was really a huge tumor must have come as an enormous shock. Beaumont also put the interesting situation he was in to practical use by making observations of something going on inside of a human’s living body which probably advanced the theoretical knowledge of the day. (My question is, wasn’t it really bizarre for the wounded man to be able to look into his own stomach?) This is another example of how American observations led to enriched European theoretical knowledge.
The first example is Ephraim McDowell, who didn't have a medical degree but performed the first ovariotomy in history. He had never attempted to do it before, had only help from a single apprentice, and performed the surgery in the woods.
The second example is William Beaumont, who didn't have formal medical training either. He performed experiments on the stomach by using a patient's wound (a hole on the side that stayed open). New discoveries and ideas were made about nutrition and digestion because of this. They both are important because they were willing to take risks and see what happened, and ended up improving medical knowledge.
~Chris Sogge~ :)
Example number 1. Ephraim McDowell was not a trained medical doctor from England, but he performed what would later be known as an ovariotomy, where he removed a cancerous tumor from a womans ovary. He had performed the first successful ovarian operation in colonial and English history, and this was before the invention of anesthesia. As a result of this operation, the woman lived 35 years after the procedure.
Example number 2. William Beaumont like McDowell was not a trained doctor and was only an apprentice. He became well known for his study of the gastric juices of the stomach and how the stomach worked. He did this by examining a patient who had been shot in the side and as a result, had a hole in his stomach.
Here Boorstin argues that American medicine is much better than English medicine at the time. This is because the American apprentices who had no experience didn't know the risks of certain operations so they did them anyway and proved to be successful.
The two examples show not only colonial medical procedure but the American way of thought at the time. The physicians didn't really know what was going on, just like the Colonists were still unsure in their new nation. McDowell's patient, who had a cystic tumor on her ovary, was initially thought to be pregnant. When he finally performed the surgery, it took all of 25 minutes and he didn't really know what was going on, having never performed a major abdominal surgery. He was doing more of an experiment, like the Americans were experimenting with their land. Neither McDowell or the Americans knew what the outcome of their efforts would be but did it and hoped for the best. Beaumont was definitely doing more of an experiment. Since he couldn't fix what was wrong with the man he decided to make the best of the situation and observe instead. the Americans tended to make the best of what they had, took advantage of new opportunities, and often learned through new experiences and observations. It was a case of trial and error because they had no idea what the outcome would be but figured it was best to try, in both the medical cases and the entire colonial experience.
One of these great examples was Ephriam McDowell. McDowell is a good example because he performed the first ever ovariotomy. Despite his lack of an education, McDowell successfully performed the operation, although he had never attempted it before. The other great example was William Beaumont. Similar to McDowell, Beaumont had no formal schooling. He made breakthroughs in nutritional and digestive research because of his willingness to explore a patients open side wound. Both physicians made medical breakthroughs in America,and even though they weren't schooled or trained, they became very important figures in medical history.
The two “doctors” spoke of in the end of this passage are Ephraim McDowell and William Beaumont. The former encountered a woman with a cystic tumor in her abdomen, so large that McDowell at first thought she was pregnant. This doctor definitely had some guts to do an operation that no one had heard of and one that probably even a doctor with a degree wouldn’t have done. The woman the surgery performed on must have probably been pretty tough though, with nothing but psalms as her anesthesia! The surgery proved to be a revolutionary advancement and probably lead the way for doctors in the future to attempt surgery. The second doctor Boorstin speaks of is Beaumont, who had no degree, but observed other physicians treat wounded soldiers. Being an army doctor, he was fortunate to come across a man who had been wounded in the side with buckshot. After treating it to the best of his abilities he noticed there still was a hole in his patient’s stomach. He didn’t find a treatment, however he offered to take care of the patient in return for the observation of his stomach and its gastric juices. I think this proposal is on the rather grotesque side, but regardless, it made some pretty important advances in the science of the digestive system. Both of these doctors (and patients) were very courageous in experimenting with the unknown.
The two great examples Boorstin references at the end of the chapter are Ephriam McDowell (1771-1830)and William Beaumont (1785-1853). McDowell, a doctor without a medical degree, performed the first ovariotomy in history because of the lack of specialists in early colonial America. At the time, the only "surgeries" performed were minor, including amputations, closing of ruptures and removal of stones. Encountering a woman with an abdominal tumor so large he initially thought was a pregnancy, McDowell set off to perform the first abdominal operation in the new world with only an apprentice nephew, and his patient lived more than 30 years longer. This advance could never have occured for McDowell had he been in England and surrounded by educated professional specialists, but despite his bare-bones medical education, McDowell managed to perform an advanced operation in the middle of nowhere. The second, Beaumont, was an apprentice-trained doctor stationed at Fort Mackinac. Unable to close the stomach wound of a shot fur trader, he instead took the man to his own home and observed the stomach, gastric juices and "effects of different stimulants" without books or laboratories. He published his book, Experiments and Observations on the Gastric Juice and the Physiology of Digestion, in 1833, and it became a "classic of clinical medicine".
Both of these stories calls into perspective the juxtaposition of lack of specialists and open opportunity. Had the appropriate doctors for each operation been there, perhaps McDowell would never have opened up that stomach, nor Beaumont had the opportunity to observe one.
Post a Comment