Today is Doctors' Day, a day honoring physicians of all specialties. According to the American Society of Anesthesiologists, however, Doctors' Day also has a special tie to anesthesiology:
Doctors Day marks the date that Crawford W. Long, M.D., of Jefferson, GA, administered the first ether anesthetic for surgery on March 30, 1842. On that day, Dr. Long administered ether anesthesia to a patient and then operated to remove a tumor from the man’s neck. Later, the patient would swear that he felt nothing during the surgery and wasn’t aware the surgery was over until he awoke.
So, from all of us at Scope to all of our physician readers, we wish you a happy and pain-free (wink, wink) Doctors' Day.
