History buff and Stanford obstetrician Ronald Gibbs wrote a novel in which George Washington is shot in the chest early in the Revolutionary War.
Tag: history
All-black ambulance service inspired today’s EMS system
The Freedom House Ambulance Service helped establish the national training model for EMS programs, but abruptly shut down in 1975.
Doctors smoking? New exhibit displays now-startling ads
In response to views that cigarettes were unhealthful, tobacco companies used images of medical professionals to sell their products.
A medical mystery: Diagnosing dead artists by their works of art
Doctors are trying to solve the mysteries surrounding the health of famous artists such as Leonardo da Vinci by examining their art.
How yellow fever shaped 19th-century New Orleans: A Q&A
A Stanford historian explains how frequent yellow fever epidemics in 19-century Louisiana generated cultural and social norms in its fatal wake.
Medicine and literature, mental health and history: A Q&A with psychiatrist-writer Daniel Mason
In this interview, Stanford psychiatrist and novelist Daniel Mason reflects on the intersections between writing and psychiatry.
Stanford’s John ‘Jack’ Farquhar, a pioneer in disease prevention research, dies
John Farquhar, a beloved mentor, and pioneer in cardiovascular disease prevention at Stanford, died Aug. 22 at the age of 91.
Telling their stories: A tribute to the life and work of Sylvy Kornberg
Sylvy Kornberg was known as the wife and mother of Nobel laureates. But she was also an accomplishment biochemist, her granddaughter writes.
Forgotten book provides glimpse of history of medicine
The medical dictionary was small, with a worn green-black cover. Published in 1898, it featured a wonderfully odd assortment of terms, with definitions averaging about six words. I set out to learn more about who wrote it and how it was used.
Bizarre skeleton sheds light on mutations of bone disease
The strange skeletal remains of a fetus discovered in Chile have turned up new insights into the genetics of some bone diseases, according to a new study.
A tale of health insurance in the United States — from protection to profits
I didn't know I was interested in history of health insurance before I read the excerpt from An American Sickness that appears in the latest issue …
“Why did I write the book? Essentially, I had to”: A surgeon reflects on his time in Vietnam
For Christmas in 1982, Henry Ward Trueblood's wife, Nancy, gave him a book about the 1965 Battle of Ia Drang, the first major engagement between …
Dear Folksies: A medical blog from World War II
Linda Bine grew up listening to bedtime stories about her father's experiences in World War II. When he was a second-year Stanford resident in 1942, …
A peek at the scandalous history of anatomical illustration
Grave robbing, plagiarism and bodies of lies; this is what you uncover when you start digging into the history of anatomy. In a story published …
The “terribly exciting” days of Stanford’s young Department of Medicine
In the summer of 1959, not long after Stan Schrier, MD, joined Stanford’s Department of Medicine as an assistant professor, he attended his first meeting …
Stanford doctor-author brings historic figure Jonas Salk to life
Stanford professor emerita Charlotte Jacobs, MD, spent the past decade with the ghost of polio vaccine creator Jonas Salk, MD, the subject of her second …