Nov 27, 2020
A Canadian physician has taken
an historical approach to examining surgery, from ancient Greece to
modern medicine and surgery. He started a podcast called
Legends of Surgery and talks about some of the most interesting
tidbits in this episode.
He discusses
- Historical markers such as the sickness that lead to hand washing and why Europeans call the operating room "theater,"
- The ways modern surgical procedures, step-by-step, have evolved over thousands of years, and
- How modern surgery technology may evolve with robotic surgeries and other advancements.
Tyler Rouse specializes in
anatomical pathology as a physician but has always been a history
buff, especially regarding surgery. He spends his free time
researching the specific histories behind surgery and has made an
entertaining and enlightening podcast about his more significant
finds. For example, he's examined the horrors of J. Marion Sims,
long considered the father of modern gynecology, who performed
cruel experiments on slaves.
He discusses big leaps in surgery such as an important connection
one doctor made about hand washing: Ignaz Semmelweis noticed that
women were developing infections at a high rate after delivering
their babies. He found out that medical students delivered babies
right after working in the morgue, giving the women terrible
infections. While the medical community shunned him, his findings
eventually led to the vital practice of hand washing.
He also discusses modern surgery
techniques, such as impediments to improvement, risky types of
surgery, and how the hardest decision a surgeon makes is typically
when to operate. He and Richard talk about how to assess whether a
surgeon is capable or not and other ways to navigate the
system.
He examines the attitudes toward the classification of surgery and
medicine, how ancient medicine precluded any questioning and
therefore any forward movement. He notes that while we now are
better about not being limited by the "dogma" of tradition, we
still could use a more open approach toward adopting advancements.
Listen in for more interesting stories about the history of
surgery.
Legends of Surgery is available through most podcast sites and is
on Facebook and Twitter.
Available on Avpple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK