#MedHistory

- Sir William Osler (1849-1919)
- Father of modern medicine.
- Diagnostician, Physician, Pathologist, Bibliophile, Prankster, & Tutor.
- Born in Canada to English immigrant clergy parents, the 8th of 9 children.
- Famous for Osler's nodes, sign, rule etc

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- Consistently voted as one of the greatest ever physician.
- Grew up to initially study theology but subsequently delved into anatomy and veterinary before going into human medicine.
- Infact discovered a nematode worm that infested dogs and was subsequently named Oslerus Osleri

- Proceeded to Europe after graduating from medical school to further immerse himself in pathology and was tutored by Rudolph Virchow (Father of Modern Pathology).
- He came back to start a career in Medicine & pathology in Canada but later on moved to USA after flipping a coin.

-Moved from Philadelphia to become one of the four founding giants of the John Hopkins Hospital and the Chief of medicine.
- The other members were pathologist W.H Welch(Clostridium Welchi), W.S Halsted(Father of modern surgery) and Gynaecologist H.A Kelly (Kelly forceps).

- Oslers love for medical education and teaching led him to start the first ever residency program in the USA.
- He was the first to bring in students into the Ward to experience the clinical side to medicine.
- He developed the idea of doctors having a call room in hospitals.

- His concept of the residency training is what obtains till date.
- He brought up the idea of calling senior doctors "Chief" and created the idea of having a chief resident for every program.
- Residency then was a long and ardous journey with residents spending many years.

- Aside his role in clinical medicine, his work spanned haematology where he worked on and improved worldwide knowledge on platelets.
- He also worked on Polycythemia Vera (aka Osler Vasquez disease)
- His approval after assessing Laveran's work promoted advancement on malaria.

- He was so invested in medical education that he always had medical students at any of his rounds.
- He wrote the first scientific internal medicine textbook, the principle and practice of medicine which was used all over the world for about 50 years and went through 16 editions

- A lover of books and libraries, he had over 7,000 books which he willed to his school after his death.
- He was a pransker and jokester and wrote several mischievous emails to editors and medical journals, for e.g he promoted the hoax of Penis Captivum.
- He was a great orator.

-He had 2 sons, one died shortly after birth and the other died as a soldier in the 1st world war, treated by his Mentee, Harvey Cushing.
- He moved to Uni Oxford as a Regius professor of Medicine in later years.
- He developed the medical program& association in UK, Ireland etc.

- Several associations in the world are named after him to reflect his global appeal.
- He is noted for several aphorisms, and several institutions have him studied as a course content.
- There is the American Osler Society dedicated to him, I am waiting confirmation as member.

- Osler suffered many respiratory infections along the way, and died of complications of pneumonia at the age of 70.
- He often called pneumonia the friend of the aged.
- Several of his books and collections remain till date.
- I remain a life-long apprentice of him.

-End.