Top 50 Most Influencial Doctors of All Time: Intro/Index
I’ve seen a list of the Top 50 Most Influential Physicians of All Time somewhere, I think in a physicians-only magazine called Medscape. It was compiled by physicians, I suppose from some committee somewhere.
Reviewing it, I’d heard of nearly every name on the list save it be a couple, so I typed one or two into Wikipedia to see what they had on the doctor and was pleasingly suprised with the new insight. These people had done amazing things, many against terrible odds, most with huge personal sacrifice and a few barely escaping dangerous backlash and physical hurdles (or not).
I decided to start a historical series myself, explaining in more detail their contribution to the medical care you and I take for granted today. That was more years ago than I’m proud of; but, I’m still struggling to add these tough-to-write posts to this series.
25 Posts in "Top 50 Doctors" Series
- Top 50 Doctors: Intro/Index – 10 Jun 2016
The top 50 most influential doctors in history—Judged by peers in their respective fields today. As suggested by Medscape magazine for physicians and written by Pediatric House Calls. - 50 - Nikolay Pirogov, field surgery – 11 Jun 2016
Father of Field Surgery; anesthesia; casting; educational reform - 49 - Henry Gray, anatomy – 3 Jul 2016
Anatomist, Surgeon, Author, Educator… Devoted Uncle - 48 - Helen Taussig, blue babies – 3 Sep 2016
Cardiology—Awarded, Authored, Discriminated, Overcomer, Dyslexic, Deaf, Teacher, Compassionate… Life-long Learner - 47 - Zora Janžekovič, burns – 26 Sep 2016
Burns—Everything You Hope A Doctor Would Be - 46 - William Harvey, circulation – 12 Oct 2016
Circulation—Aristocrat, Anatomist, Physician to The King - 45 - Virginia Apgar, anesthesiology & newborn care – 12 Nov 2016
Blue Babies—Cultured, Determined, Gentle Giant of Medicine - 44 - Victor McKusick, medical genetics – 3 Jan 2017
Genetics—Meticulous Researcher, Compassionate Clinician - 43 - Stanley Prusiner, neurodegenerative diseases – 25 Jan 2017
Neurodegenerative Diseases—Heresy to Orthodoxy, Hate Mail to Honoraria - 42 - Stanley Dudrick, TPN – 28 Feb 2017
Total Parenteral Nutrition—From Beagles to Babies—A Living Legend - 41 - Robert Koch, modern bacteriology – 21 Mar 2017
Bacteriology—World Traveler, “Bug” Hunter and Prize Winner - 40 - Lawrence (Larry) Einhorn, chemotherapy – 16 Jun 2017
Gentle Giant—pioneer in cancer treatment - 39 - Dr. Joseph Kirsner, GI Joe – 27 Jul 2017
Colon Cancer, IBS—“GI Joe,” “Doctor’s Doctor,” Decagenarian - 38 - Dr. John Snow, cholera – 20 Aug 2017
Cholera—Commoner, Physician, Epidemiologist - 37 - Dr. James Parkinson, Parkinson's Disease – 1 Sep 2017
Parkinson's Disease—Renaissance Man in the Age of Enlightenment - 36 - George Papanicolaou, Cytopathology, Cancer – 29 Sep 2017
PAP Smear and Early Cancer Detection - 35 - Mahmut Gazi Yaşargil, Micro-Surgery – 24 Oct 2017
Neurosurgery’s Man of the Century, Humanitarian, Educator - 34 - Watson & Crick, DNA – 2 Dec 2017
The STRUCTURE of DNA—A “Discovery” Against Advice - 33 - Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, stages of grief – 5 Jan 2018
Taboo Breaker, Medical Care Transformer, Hospice Founder - 32 - Elizabeth Blackwell, women in medicine – 29 Jan 2018
Anything But Accidental, First U.S. Woman MD - 31 - E. Donnall Thomas & Joseph Murray, Bone Marrow Transplants – 23 Feb 2018
Defeaters of Cancer, Winners of Nobel Prize - 30 - David L. Sackett, Evidence-based Medicine – 2 Apr 2018
The “Father” of Evidence-Based Medicine - 29 - Dame Cicely Saunders, Hospice – 23 Apr 2018
Founder Of The First Modern Hospice - 28 - Cicely D. Williams, Kwashiorkor, Breastfeeding, Whistleblower – 21 Jun 2022
Pioneering Pediatrician, Prisoner of War, Discoverer of Kwashiorkor Malnutrition and Tireless Advocate for Children - 27 - Charles D. Kelman - Cataracts – 9 Mar 2023
Pioneer in Ophthalmology, Surgeon, Inventor, Jazz Musician, Entertainer, Broadway Producer, Lecturer and Author
A few other posts also describe physicians of note, like in the series Unaccepted Medical Breakthroughs you might like to read.