On Tuesday, you may have checked out the trivia quiz posted here in honor of Doctors’ Day. As promised, here are the answers (and no fair peeking first).
1. The word “doctor” stems from the Latin “docere,” meaning “to teach.” In the earliest examples of written English, appearing in the early 1300s, it was used to describe “doctors of the church,” i.e. scholars who were learned in Scripture. The first use of the term in reference to medical doctors is believed to date to 1377.
2. c) Hippocrates. Born in ca. 460 B.C.E. on the Greek island of Kos, he rejected the notion that disease was caused by evil spirits or the displeasure of the gods, believing instead that illness has a physical and rational explanation. This observational approach became the foundation of modern medicine. Hippocrates, who was recognized by his contemporaries as one of the foremost physicians in ancient Greece, also promoted ethical and moral standards for the practice of medicine. These teachings may have inspired the Hippocratic Oath, which is still a part of many medical school graduation ceremonies.
3. The familiar symbol of a winged staff entwined with two serpents is known as the caduceus. In ancient Greek mythology, the winged staff was carried by Hermes, messenger of the gods, as a sign of peace. Through its association with Hermes, who was also reputed to be an alchemist, it became linked to medicine some time in the seventh century. Another version links the caduceus to Asclepius, the Greek god of healing – except that the Asclepian staff was entwined with a single snake, not two, nor was it winged. The Asclepian staff and the caduceus of Hermes are now used interchangeably, although most purists would probably consider the staff to be the more accurate form of the symbol.
4. Many terms used in modern medicine have their roots in Latin, the language of scholars in medieval and Renaissance Europe. This era is when much of the terminology of basic anatomy and prescription-writing was established. Modern language began to take over some time after the 16th century but Latin continues to survive in medical nomenclature, especially in the study of anatomy.
5. The oldest medical school in the United States can be found at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia; it was established in 1765 as the Medical Department of the College of Philadelphia. The forerunner of what is now the medical school at Columbia University was founded in 1767. Harvard Medical School, 1782, is the third oldest. Queens College had a medical school that was established in 1787 but was dissolved in 1816 and no longer exists. The fifth-oldest medical college in the U.S. is at Dartmouth, 1797.
6. Dr. William J. Mayo and Dr. Charles H. Mayo, along with their father, Dr. William Worrall Mayo, founded the now world-famous Mayo Clinic in their home town of Rochester, Minn., in 1903. Initially the Mayo Clinic, a branch of St. Mary’s Hospital, specialized in surgery. It became a full medical center in 1915 and soon began to attract top-quality physicians from all over the world. The Mayo brothers’ philosophy of a patient-centered team approach was dubbed the ”Mayo model of care”; it led to one of the first integrated group medical practices in the world.
7. Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951), the first American to win the Nobel Prize for literature, was born in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. His home town was the inspiration for Gopher Prairie, the setting of his classic novel “Main Street,” the story of an independent young woman who marries the rather dull and practical Dr. Will Kennicott and struggles to adapt to small-town life. Lewis was awarded the Pulitzer prize in 1926 (and turned it down) for “Arrowsmith,” whose idealistic hero, Dr. Martin Arrowsmith, is tempted by wealth and prestige and eventually finds redemption in pursuing his own path.
8. In 2009, students graduated from medical school with an average of $156,456 in educational debt. Medical education debt has been rising steadily, and most students owe a significant amount of money by the time they complete their training. Increasing tuition costs for medical school, on top of the increasing cost of undergraduate education, are primarily to blame. Many observers worry that the prospect of educational debt is steering students away from careers in primary care, where salaries are generally lower, and may be discouraging bright young people from even considering a career in medicine.
9. “Marcus Welby, M.D.,” made its debut on ABC in September 1969 and ran until May 1976. During the 1970 season it was the most popular series on TV, according to the Nielsen ratings. The show starred Robert Young as a kind and fatherly primary care physician. Dr. Welby became somewhat of an icon but the character also sparked some controversy, both for his perceived paternalistic attitude toward his patients and for creating unrealistic expectations for how physicians should ideally behave.
10. The field of hospital medicine is one of the newest and fastest growing. The term “hospitalist” was coined in 1996 to describe physicians who specialized in the care of hospitalized patients. More than 20,000 hospitalists currently practice in the United States; this number is expected to grow to 30,000 within the next year.
10-14 points: Excellent! Have you ever considered going to medical school?
5-9 points: Not too shabby. You’ve been diligent in watching episodes of “House.”
0-4 points: Ouch! Better stick to handing out the occasional Band-Aid.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
