Happy Father’s Day!

Updated 3/2017 -- all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active. 

On this Father’s Day, I thought I’d list some men who have been influential in medicine and surgery.

Hippocrates (ca. 460 BC – ca. 370 BC)has been named the Father of Medicine.

In surgery, there are three different men who are often given the title of the Father of Surgery:

Sushruta (600 B.C., from India)

Sushruta, one of the earliest surgeons of the recorded history (600 B.C.) is believed to be the first individual to describe plastic surgery. Sushruta who lived nearly 150 years before Hippocrates vividly described the basic principles of plastic surgery in his famous ancient treatise 'Sushruta Samhita' 1,2 in 600 B.C. 'Sushruta Samhita'(Sushruta's compendium) which is one of the oldest treatise dealing with surgery in the world indicates that he was probably the first surgeon to perform plastic surgical operations.

Alzahrawi:  Father of Surgery (A.D. 936 - 1013)

Al-Zahrawi is known in the West as Albucasis. He wrote Kitab Al Tasrif, a 30-volume medical textbook which included sections on surgery, medicine, orthopedics, ophthalmology, pharmacology, nutrition, etc. The thirtieth treatise, On Surgery and Instruments, is considered the first rational, complete, and illustrated treatment of its subject.

Ambroise Paré (c. 1510 – 20 December 1590)

Ambroise Paré (c. 1510 – 20 December 1590) was a French surgeon. He was the great official royal surgeon for the kings Henry II, Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III and is considered as one of the fathers of surgery. He was a leader in surgical techniques and battlefield medicine, especially the treatment of wounds. He was also an anatomist and the inventor of several surgical instruments.

Gizabeth, Methodical Madness, may correct me, but the Father of (modern) Pathology is considered to be Rudolf Ludwig Karl Virchow (13 October 1821 – 5 September 1902).

was a German doctor, anthropologist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist and politician, known for his advancement of public health. Referred to as "the father of modern pathology," he is considered one of the founders of social medicine.

Vijay, Scan Man’s Notes, may correct me, but the Father of (diagnostic) Radiology is considered to be Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen (March 27, 1845 – February 10, 1923).

was a German physicist of the University of Würzburg. On November 8, 1895, he produced and detected electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range today known as X-rays or Röntgen Rays, an achievement that earned him the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901. He is also considered the father of Diagnostic Radiology, the medical field in which radiation is used to produce images to diagnose injury and disease.

Happy Father’s Day to fathers everywhere!