In the footsteps of Abraham Jacobi, an early international medical graduate: contributions of a single South African medical school to US pediatrics.

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

Abraham Jacobi is generally recognized as the father of pediatrics in the United States. He was born in Germany and graduated from the University of Bonn in 1851 at a time of political turmoil. He was jailed for 2 years for high treason as a result of his activities as a member of a democratic revolutionary group. He was advised to leave the country to escape additional prosecution. After a brief, unsuccessful attempt to set up a practice in England, he made his way to the United States in 1853 during a period when immigrants from Europe were being welcomed with open arms. He established a practice in the Bowery in New York City, which, at the time, housed a quarter of a million German immigrants and hundreds of thousands of others seeking opportunities in the land of the free. His practice grew by leaps and bounds, and he began translating abstracts of articles from Germany dealing with diseases of children as well as publishing in US journals. In 1859, he co-authored the textbook Midwifery and Diseases of Women and Children. His 1860 appointment as Professor in Infantile Pathology and Therapeutics at New York Medical College was one of the first, if not the first, such academic appointment in pediatrics in the United States. In recognition of his clinical skills, his dynamic bedside teaching, and his contributions to the scientific literature, he was offered and accepted a professorial appointment at Columbia in 1870. However, he had to wait 18 years before he was granted faculty voting privileges. Jacobi’s Therapeutics of Infancy and Children was first published in 1895. He remained at Columbia until his death in 1919, having served as president of both the American Pediatric Society (APS) and the American Medical Association.1–3 As the first international … Reprint requests to (G.S.G.) Emeritus Staff Office, Plummer 10, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905. E-mail: gilchrist-gerald{at}msn.com