Notes on the formative period of a neurological surgeon / [Henry Viets].

  • Viets, Henry R. (Henry Rouse), 1890-1969.
Date:
[1939]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Notes on the formative period of a neurological surgeon / [Henry Viets]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    of a Neurological Surgeon* By Henry R. Viets HE three impressions of a medical student’s life most X likely to be recalled in later years are those associated with the dissection room, the terror of his first unassisted delivery, and the anxiety at the time of his inauguration as an anesthetist. Each has its emotional reactions, pat¬ terns that have been repeated in endless variety as the pathways are worn in the pliant mind of the youthful physician. The memories of anesthesia are the most last¬ ing; life and death are held so finely balanced in one’s hands. The association is often recalled, sometimes vividly, as was the case with Harvey Cushing in 1920, when old memories were stirred by a friendly corre¬ spondence with a medical colleague. To another friend, at the same time, he wrote as follows: ^‘My first giving of an anesthetic was when, a third-year student, I was called down from the seats [Massachusetts General Hospital operation room] and sent in a little side room with a patient and an orderly and told to put the patient to sleep, for Dr.-was to operate for the class. I knew noth¬ ing about the patient whatsoever, merely that a nurse came in and gave the patient a hypodermic injection. I proceeded as best I could under the orderly’s directions, and in view of the repeated urgent calls for the patient * Communicated informally after the banquet on April eighth.