The History of Medicine Office and the Department of Surgery are pleased to welcome Dr. Dale C. Smith, Professor of Military Medicine and History, F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland.
Dr. Smith will deliver the inaugural Visiting Speaker Series lecture:
Caring for the Wounded: How the Great War Medical Experience Shaped Post-War American Surgery
Date: Wednesday, October 21
Time: 6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Light refreshments will be provided at 5:30 p.m.
Location: Dental Sciences Building, Rm. 1002
Registration is not required for this event. All are welcome to attend.
Western University, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, room DSB 1002
There is also more information on our history of medicine website at: http://www.schulich.uwo.ca/historymedicine/events/visitingspeaker.html
About the lecture
Caring for the Wounded: How the Great War Medical Experience Shaped Post-War American Surgery
Though initially unprepared to treat the combatants of a modern war, as the First World War progressed, American physicians effectively developed new skills which improved surgical outcomes, advanced the general understanding of shock, and transformed patient care in the wartime hospitals. This lecture will examine the many ways that physicians responded to the challenges of doctoring during the war and will discuss how these medical experiences were used to transform surgery in the post-war United States.
About the Speaker
Dale C. Smith is Professor of Military Medicine & History in the Department of Military and Emergency Medicine, F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland. In 1979 he received his Ph.D. in the History of Medicine from the University of Minnesota, where he remained on the Faculty until moving to the Uniformed Services University in 1982. He is the author of numerous papers on medical history. His critical edition of William Budd’s Essay on the Causes of Fevers was published by the Johns Hopkins University Press in 1984. His most recent book is a centennial history of the American Gastroenterological Association (1999). He has served as Associate Editor of the Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, on the editorial board of the Bulletin of the History of Medicine and as the editor of the AAHM NewsLetter. He is also a Consulting Historian for Military Medicine, the journal of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States. In 1987 he received the Laurance D. Redway Award for Excellence in Medical Writing. From 2006 until 2013 he served as the Senior Vice President of the USU. His professional interests include the history of medical education, the history of infectious diseases, the history of surgery, and the problems of patient evacuation in military operations.