March 30th marks the annual observation of National Doctors Day. This day was established to recognize physicians, their work and their contributions to society and the community. On National Doctors Day, we say “thank you” to our physicians for all that they do for us and for our loved ones.
Healthcare today is more complex than ever. With more advancements, tools and information at their fingertips doctors have an overwhelming job to diagnose and treat their patients every day. This is the day to honor the men and women who see us 365 days a year.
HOW TO OBSERVE
Take the opportunity to thank your physician for taking late night phone calls, working long hours and providing unswerving care. Use #NationalDoctorsDay to post on social media.
HISTORY
March 30, 1933 was the first observance of Doctors Day in Winder, Georgia. Dr. Charles B. Almond’s wife, Eudora Brown Almond, wanted to have a day to honor physicians. On this first day in 1933, greeting cards were mailed and flowers were placed on the graves of deceased doctors. The red carnation is commonly used as the symbolic flower for National Doctors Day.
The first ether anesthetic for surgery was administered by Crawford W. Long, M.D. on March 30, 1842, marking the date for Doctors Day. On that day, before Dr. Long operated to remove a tumor from a man’s neck, he administered ether anesthesia. Following surgery, the man would swear that he felt nothing during the surgery and was not aware of anything until he awoke.
From International Business Times:
It’s National Doctors’ Day, an annual observance aimed at appreciating physicians everywhere. The holiday started in 1933 in Winder, Georgia, and since then it’s been held on March 30 — the first anniversary of a doctor using ether anesthesia during surgery, according to the Southern Medical Association Alliance.
As of 2013, the United States had about 767,000 physicians under the age of 75, and demand was climbing.ModernHealthcare.com reported that, due to population growth and extended life spans, experts predicted a shortage of up to 90,000 doctors by 2025.
Whether you’re an aspiring health care professional, a patient or simply a fan of your physicians, take some time Wednesday to let them know you care. Check out these inspirational quotes about medicine, collected from nursingschools.net, QuoteGarden and TodayInSci:
“In nothing do men more nearly approach the gods than in giving health to men.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero
“In the sick room, ten cents’ worth of human understanding equals ten dollars’ worth of medical science.” — Martin H. Fischer
“The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.” — Voltaire
“The doctor should be opaque to his patients, and like a mirror, should show them nothing but what is shown to him.” — Sigmund Freud
“Medicine sometimes snatches away health, sometimes gives it.” — Ovid
“A physician is obligated to consider more than a diseased organ, more than even the whole man — he must view the man in his world.” — Harvey Cushing
“Nurses dispense comfort, compassion, and caring without even a prescription.” — Val Saintsbury
“A doctor, like anyone else who has to deal with human beings, each of them unique, cannot be a scientist; he is either, like the surgeon, a craftsman, or, like the physician and the psychologist, an artist. This means that in order to be a good doctor a man must also have a good character, that is to say, whatever weaknesses and foibles he may have, he must love his fellow human beings in the concrete and desire their good before his own.” — W. H. Auden
“The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease.” — William Osler
“Only the healing art enables one to make a name for himself and at the same time give benefit to others.” — Chinese Proverb
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