Henry Ingersoll Bowditch and Oliver Wendell Holmes: Stethoscopists and Reformers

Abstract

Two Bostonians, Henry Ingersoll Bowditch (1808-1892) and Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894), went to Paris for advanced medical training and came home ardent disciples of Pierre Charles Alexandre Louis, leader of the French school that derived its eminence from expert auscultation and careful correlation of bedside and autopsy findings. Both Bowditch and Holmes became leaders in 19th-century American medicine. Bowditch, a successful practitioner and prolific medical writer, wrote the first important American text on physical examination and became our first specialist in pulmonary disease. He pioneered in the public health movement, was a charter member and later president of the American Medical Association, and was an abolitionist and an advocate for equal rights for women in medicine. Holmes left practice to become a medical educator. As Dean of Harvard Medical School, he tried unsuccessfully to admit white women and free black men to the school. Although his greatest fame came as a man of letters, Holmes considered himself first a physician and medical educator, and was justifiably proud of his definitive study, "The Contagiousness of Puerperal Fever" (1843). Today, Bowditch and Holmes are little appreciated as pioneers and reformers, but we remain in debt to them both.

2012 Ultrasound First Forum Proceedings

“…Dr Moore strongly advocates for ultrasound first and always when you are putting needles in the central circulation. [60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69] …”

“…In addition, patients should be educated to help precipitate change by requesting ultrasound guidance for procedures and asking about training of the person performing the ultrasound guidance. Dr Moore strongly advocates for ultrasound first and always when you are putting needles in the central circulation 60 – 69…”

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894): Physician, jurist, poet, inventor, pioneer, and anatomist

“…Also inscribed on his memorial was a quote from Horace's Ars Poetica: Miscuit Utile Dulci, ''He mingled the useful with the pleasant'' (Sullivan, 1972). Most remembered for his literary works, it should not be forgotten that he taught for over three decades to hundreds of future physicians of his day and made contributions to the discipline with original descriptions and implementation of new teaching methods, e.g., microscopy (Felts, 2002;Putnam, 2001Putnam, , 2011.…”

“…Holmes would also opine this notion in his practice. Under Louis, Holmes became an expert in auscultation (Felts, 2002). While attending clinics in La Pitie and Hotel Dieu, he observed lectures by such greats as Dupuytren, Velpeau, Roux, Larrey, and Lisfranc (Podolsky and Bryan, 2009).…”