Friday, May 13, 2016

UMHS Offering New History of Medicine Elective

UMHS will now be offering an elective course called the History of Medicine [MICM 0991] with Dr Michael Doherty. There will be 5 total lectures, one hour each, held in the campus auditorium beginning at 11:30 on each of the following Tuesdays: May 24, June 14 & 21, July 12 & 19, 2016.

Applying for residency is very competitive; it is important to have extracurricular/volunteer activities on your resume. Those can be club activities, health fairs, elective courses, and so forth. It’s something you all should consider. The History of Medicine elective is a good choice; it’s relevant, goes on your transcript, and you’re on campus anyway.

Why is this kid from 1958 going to see the butcher for a black eye?...

There is no fee for the course, and the only requirement for receiving credit is by attending all 5 sessions. If interested, please email Dr Doherty.

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Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Semester Break R&R with Dr Bramwell


For a little R&R this semester break I highly recommend you watch the excellent PBS Masterpiece Theatre series called simply 'Bramwell'.  Four seasons where produced for TV from 1995 to 1998. Here is Season 1, Episode 1, Part 1 to get you hooked! I have borrowed the following write up from the YouTube channel. Enjoy!
"Jemma Redgrave's Dr. Eleanor Bramwell displays many admirable qualities as she struggles to become a physician/surgeon in the male-dominated world of Victorian England, yet her Bramwell also shows some very human foibles, giving the audience a more interesting, credible and sympathetic character. The re-creation of clinical scenes is also quite accurate (and occasionally not for the squeamish!). Set in 1895, you are taken from the drawing rooms of the elite to the shocking deprivation of the slums of London's East End."

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Friday, July 12, 2013

Circulating Now: New History of Medicine Blog

The History of Medicine Division at the National Library of Medicine (NLM) has launched a new blog entitled Circulating Now. The goal is to "encourage exploration and discovery of one of the world’s largest and most treasured history of medicine collections".

Circulating Now
will being with a series of posts about NLM’s and others’ medical history collections by focusing on a particular historical event of significance to the history of medicine and the history of the United States. The series topic is all about "the assassination of, and attempts to save, the twentieth president of the United States, James A. Garfield, which occurred 132 years ago this summer".

All you history of medicine buffs ~ explore and enjoy!

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Monday, June 17, 2013

History of Medicine: Book Review

Jacalyn Duffin, a Canadian physician-historian-educator, "blows the dust off the shelves of medical history" with this survey of the history of Western medicine. "History of Medicine: A Scandalously Short Introduction", written from a decidedly Canadian perspective, is a medical history textbook that is well researched, logically organized, and chock-full of interesting and intriguing content and illustrations.[Anne Ross Library Call No. R 31 .D783 1999]

One of the authors goals in writing this book was to spark the interest and imagination of the next generation of medical students and their educators. I found this textbook easy to digest in terms of assimilating the information presented of the people, places and events that shaped the history of Western medicine, but I discovered the real value of this treatise is in the wisdom that can be acquired by stepping away from the here and now and gaining that broader historical perspective. An understanding of where medicine has come from can only help young enthusiastic medical students to dispel their inherent generational tunnel vision, to find deeper meaning in today's medical practice, and to envision the future of medicine.

 I highly recommend that all medical students set aside time to read this "cultural history...of medical events". As the book is organized along the lines of a traditional medical school curriculum complete with learning objectives, students could read the chapters for each course as they embark on each new semester.
[ Published by the University of Toronto Press, ISBN 0-8020-7912-1, 1999. reprint 2004.]

 For a more complete review of this title, I refer you to the annotation by Audrey Shafer,
 New York University School of Medicine.

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Friday, June 04, 2010

The Polio Crusade: PBS

Part of the "American Experience" series, this PBS documentary film narrates personal accounts of polio survivors; interviews historians, scientists, and researchers; and is based in part on David Oshinsky's award-winning book Polio in America.
"The story of the polio crusade pays tribute to a time when Americans banded together to conquer a terrible disease. The medical breakthrough saved countless lives and had a pervasive impact on American philanthropy that continues to be felt today."

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