It is time to congratulate ourselves and our clinical audience with choosing the best profession there is. Today, by the act of the Congress of the United States, there is an official holiday celebrating physicians. The roots of the holiday go back to the birth of the only specialty of medicine that was conceived on American soil: anesthesiology.
The American Society of Anesthesiologists explains:
Communities throughout the United States will be celebrating the national observance of Doctors Day on March 30, 2006. While physicians in all specialties and primary care medicine are honored, Doctors Day was first observed because of the efforts of one physician whose endeavors specifically related to the specialty of anesthesiology.
On March 30, 1842, Crawford W. Long, M.D., of Jefferson, Ga., administered the first ether anesthesia to James Venable and then operated to remove a tumor from the man’s neck. The man would swear later that he felt nothing during the surgery and was not aware it was over until he awoke. Dr. Long’s history-making achievement on that day, and the continuous efforts by physicians to alleviate human suffering in the 164 years since then, have become the basis for celebrating Doctors Day each year.
According to ASA President Orin F. Guidry, M.D., “The advances in anesthesiology since Dr. Long’s historic event have resulted in a medical specialty comprising highly trained men and women who are dedicated to relieving pain and saving lives in a variety of settings, from the operating room to a battlefield or disaster site.”
More about this year’s ASA efforts to promote emergency preparedness…
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