The Heritage of A Physician

Abstract

The idea that led to the founding of the American College of Chest Physicians was conceived by men who were motivated by a desire to be of service to their fellow physicians and through them, to serve humanity. The Fellowship of the American College of Chest Physicans has continued as an increasing and an international resevoir of accumulated medical knowledge and skill dedicated to the service of mankind. The background against which an idea is developed is important to all who may be influenced by that given idea. Let us take a look at the background of the art and science of medicine: Background is defined as that which is behind anything and against which it is viewed. The background for the development of the art and science of medicine lies in the fact that the Creator did endow each person with some degree of humanitarianism. The expression of this quality by any one individual depends largely upon the dominance or submergence of this humane instinct and the conditions prevailing at a particular time. Records reveal the fact that in the earliest days of man’s existence attempts were made by some men to alleviate pain and suffering. Some learned that by removing a thorn or stone or a parasite that the cause of pain was removed. Members of some early tribes learned to use certain plants to stupefy their victims. Crude instruments of stone were used by other men to make holes through the skull to relieve pain or to remove splinters of bone. Rigid splints were used to fix fractures. Medicinal preparations of those early days were unrefined and varied greatly in their potency and the surgical procedures were limited in scope and in effectiveness. The consciousness of the universal need for knowledge of more effective medicinal agents and greater skill in surgical procedures impelled the physicians of ancient times, as impels us today, to search at home and in distant lands for medical truths. It is readily understood why men of medicine have always been extensive travelers searching in all corners of the universe for knowledge, and that knowledge of medical truths is passed from one people to another even across unfriendly boundaries. Through this liberal exchange of information, all races in all parts of the world have shared in the benefits of this increased knowledge through the good offices of the physician. At times, the light of medical knowledge has been brighter at some spots than at others and at times it has been dim but, it has never been completely extinguished. There have always been those blessed with the urge and will to relieve the ill and suffering. I do not consider it desirable to single out a particular achievement above