Happy Doctors Day to us and all our doctor readers!
Here’s the holiday’s history from our earlier post (some of us, being anesthesiologists, are particularly proud of this story):
Doctors Day marks the date that Crawford W. Long, M.D., of Jefferson, GA, administered the first ether anesthetic for surgery on March 30, 1842. On that day, Dr. Long administered ether anesthesia to James Venable and then operated to remove a tumor from the man’s neck.
In the beginning, Doctors Day, which was first observed in 1933, was celebrated by mailing cards to physicians and their spouses and by placing flowers on the graves of deceased physicians. It has now evolved into a collective celebration that is a national day of observance.
ASA [American Society of Anesthesiologists –ed.] celebrates Doctors Day by encouraging anesthesiologists to talk about how they provide medical care to patients before, during and after surgery and the efforts that have been made over the years to improve patient safety. These efforts include more advanced education and training, new technological breakthroughs in monitoring patients during surgery, better pain-relieving medications, ongoing medical research and development of practice standards.
Surgical procedures that could not have been done many years ago for patients such as young children, the elderly and people in poor overall physical health are routine today.
Lo and behold, unlike last year, even the AMA is celebrating the holiday! Did we make them do it?
ASA Press release: Doctors Day 2007 Promotes Importance of Quitting Smoking Before Surgery …