NYAM Presents Third Annual History Night

The NYAM Section on the History of Medicine and Public Health held its third annual NYAM History Night on April 8, 2013, featuring short talks on topics in the history of medicine and public health presented by accomplished health professionals. The five presenters were chosen from a pool of applicants, and shared their work with an audience of more than 75 NYAM Fellows and health professionals.

Barbara Berney, PhD, MPH spoke on “Medicare and the Desegregation of American Hospitals.” She explained that African Americans lacked equal access to medical care well into the 1960s, and that hospital desegregation was gradually achieved through a government requirement that tied it to Medicare funding. “This made health care a civil right, so it was critical,” she said. Dr. Berney has received a National Endowment for the Humanities Grant to make a documentary film on this topic.

Heather Butts, JD, MPH, MA presented her research on “Healers and Soldiers: African American Doctors and Patients During Civil War.” She profiled African American doctors who served during the war and highlighted the unique heath issues of African American soldiers, who were often assigned to jobs correlated with higher disease rates.

Karen G. Langer, PhD presented on “The Philospher's Swoon: The Concussion of Michel de Montaigne,” which she called “a historical vignette in world neurosurgery.” The 16th century French essayist wrote a vivid portrayal of his recovery from a concussion after he was thrown from his horse in a collision with another horse. Dr. Langer explained that the awareness deficits and cognitive difficulties caused by head injuries make it hard for patients to remember and describe the experience, and therefore Montaigne’s account provided “a unique glimpse into the patient perspective.”

Jeffrey M. Levine, MD recounted “The Dark History of Dakin's Solution.” During WWI, English chemist Henry Drysdale Dakin and his colleague Alexis Carrel developed a wound treatment method that involved sterilizing and irrigating the wound with a solution containing bleach. The solution was originally known as the Carrel-Dakin Solution, but Carrel’s name was later dropped, Dr. Levine said, noting that Carrel went on to become a well-known proponent of eugenics.

Peter Manu, MD, FACP closed out the evening with a presentation on “The American Beginnings of George E. Palade,” discussing the work of the Nobel Prize-winning Romanian cell biologist at the Rockefeller Institution between 1947-1953.

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Posted on April 12, 2013

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