The editors of Medgadget would like to wish all the docs out there a happy Doctor’s Day!
The holiday commemorates the day when Dr. Crawford W. Long of Jefferson, GA performed the first surgery under anesthesia on March 30, 1842.
James Venable, the patient, received a dose of ether before having a tumor in his neck removed, and so began an age when patients don’t go through the horror of being cut awake and doctors can perform immensely more complicated procedures.
A bit more history about Doctor’s Day from our earlier post…