Sir,
The excellent editorial by Michael Soljak 1 leads off with the natural
assumption, (by any good New Zealander), that everybody knows who Billroth
and Halsted were. In case anyone has forgotten; a little history. Theodor
Billroth, 1829-1894, was a German surgeon, and a friend of Brahms.2
William S Halsted, 1852-1922, was a New York born surgeon, ("The father of
American surgery"), whose two years postgraduate training,from 1878 in
Europe included a period under Billroth.2
So that's that?
David S G Sloan
Public Health Physician
1 Soljak M. Volume of prodedures and outcome of treatment. BMJ
2002;325:787-8.(11 October.)
2.Duin N, Sutcliffe J. A History of Medicine. London: Simon&
Schuster,1992.
Competing interests:
No competing interests
11 October 2002
David S Sloan
acting Public Health Medical Officer
Central Public Health Unit-Rockhampton, PO Box 946, Rockhampton Queensland, 4700, Australia
Rapid Response:
Who was Halsted?
Sir,
The excellent editorial by Michael Soljak 1 leads off with the natural
assumption, (by any good New Zealander), that everybody knows who Billroth
and Halsted were. In case anyone has forgotten; a little history. Theodor
Billroth, 1829-1894, was a German surgeon, and a friend of Brahms.2
William S Halsted, 1852-1922, was a New York born surgeon, ("The father of
American surgery"), whose two years postgraduate training,from 1878 in
Europe included a period under Billroth.2
So that's that?
David S G Sloan
Public Health Physician
1 Soljak M. Volume of prodedures and outcome of treatment. BMJ
2002;325:787-8.(11 October.)
2.Duin N, Sutcliffe J. A History of Medicine. London: Simon&
Schuster,1992.
Competing interests: No competing interests