The Origins of Modern Surgery

Abstract

It remains a rhetorical question as to whether an understanding of surgical history is important to the maturation and continued education and training of a surgeon. Conversely, it is hardly necessary to dwell on the heuristic value that an appreciation of history provides in developing adjunctive humanistic, literary, and philosophical tastes. Clearly, medicine is a lifelong learning process that should be an enjoyable and rewarding experience. For a surgeon, the study of surgical history contributes greatly toward making this learning process more pleasurable and provides constant invigoration. To trace the evolution of what one does on a daily basis and to understand it from a historical perspective is an enviable goal. It reality, there is no way to separate present-day surgery and one’s own practice from the experiences of all the surgeons and all the years that have gone before.