MEDICINE: Perspectives in History and Art

Robert E. Greenspan, MD is a practicing nephrologist and is available to speak on all topics covered in Medicine: Perspectives in History and Art at medical school Grand Rounds, universities, organizations, and meetings. Below are examples of two available Power Point presentations. Both lectures are made more meaningful by the use of illustrations and quotes:

Medicine: Perspectives in History and Art

Medical school training in history is often neglected, so here I hope to acquaint the audience with what students, and in fact all faculty and practicing physicians should know about the origins of their profession.

a) Anatomy

• Classic Art
• Great Books

b) Physical Diagnosis

• Origin of the Stethoscope
• Urine Diagnosis

c) Bleeding

• The Four Humours
• Cupping

d) Surgery

• Hemostasis
• The Discovery of Anesthesia
• Asepsis

e) Trauma Surgery

• Trepanning
• Civil War Surgery

f) Obstetrics

• Great Art
• Discovery of the OB Forceps
• Vesiculo-Vaginal Fistula

g) Urology and the Treatment of Stones

h) Ophthalmology and ENT

i) Medicine

• Infectious Disease: Plague, Leprosy, Syphilis
• Smallpox and Vaccination

j) Pharmacy

• Herbs
• Homeopathy
• Advertising

k) Dentistry

l) Quack Medicine

• Magnetism
• Electricity
• Radioactivity

Lecture Objectives:
1) Review the origins of medical and surgical specialities
2) Achieve an appreciation of great medical classics and art
3) Get a better understanding through audience participation and direct quotes

What Every Physician Should Know

Important lessons along with some of the missteps of past physicians should be reviewed at least once in every medical career. This is a chance to meet and learn from some of the past greats and to see diseases that shaped the history of medicine but are no longer a threat.

a) Landmarks in the Second Oldest Profession

• Aesculapius, the Caduceus, and the Hippocratic Oath
• First Medical Illustrations and Procedures
• Brief History of Anatomy and the Emergence of Medicine
• Landmarks in Medical Literature and Art
• Early Diagnosis and the Origin of the Stethoscope
• History of the "Rx" and Early Therapeutics
• Ancient Therapy and Modern Physiology
• The First Great Medical Discoveries: Asepsis and Anesthesia

b) Diseases You Won't See in Private Practice

• Leprosy, Plague, Tertiary Syphilis, Smallpox

c) Doctors Behaving Badly

• Gender Bias
• Physicians Hiding their Medical Discoveries
• Famous Plagiarism
• False Advertising
• Quackery

d) Patient/Physician Relationships

• Off to a Bad Start — Quotes by Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, and Mark Twain

e) Learn some Latin and Impress Your Attending

• Hippocrates and Maimonides

f) Practice Advice from the Greats

• Quotes by Hippocrates, Thomas Jefferson, and Wm Osler

Lecture objectives:
1) Achieve an understanding of the roots of clinical medicine
2) Become familiar with landmarks in medical
    literature and art
3) Review practice guidelines from the medical greats