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Conversations with the Past: "The Pioneering Spirit in American Medicine" by Dr. Virginia Allen

This 3/4” U-Matic tape contains a lecture titled "The Pioneering Spirit in American Medicine" by Dr. Virginia Allen of the Office of Scientific Publications in the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The lecture took place April 16, 1980, and it was a part of the series “Conversations with the Past: History of Health Sciences.” The recording runs 42:36, with about 41 minutes of lecture content. According to the credits, it was a Medical Community Television System Production. The recording is a duplication, in color.
(0:01) Video starts with blank screen, color bars, and countdown.
(0:29) Program begins with TMC Librarian Beth White at a podium introducing medical historian Dr. Virginia Allen.
(1:14) Dr. Allen begins her talk, “Pioneering Spirit in American Medicine.”
(3:36) Dr. John Potts, early Physician General to the Virginia Colony.
(4:08) Preacher physicians.
(4:45) Cotton Mather of Boston, a preacher and—according to Dr. Allen—the first significant figure in American medicine.
(9:10) Mather’s chief medical accomplishment: promoting smallpox inoculation. In an early instance of applying statistical analysis in medicine, he tracked mortality for those inoculated compared to the general population.
(13:05) Mather wrote the first general treatise on medicine in the United States, The Angel of Bethesda, 1724. However, it was not published.
(16:22) Dr. Ephraim McDowell, raised in Kentucky and practiced there, and was educated in Edinburgh, Scotland.
(20:28) McDowell diagnosed and removed an ovarian tumor in Jane Crawford. It was the first time such an operation had been performed and the patient lived.
(28:17) Dr. William Beaumont of Connecticut, licensed in 1812, became an Army surgeon and in 1820 was stationed at Fort Mackinac.
(32:23) In 1822, seventeen-year-old Alexis St. Martin, an employee of the American Fur Company, was accidentally shot. Beaumont cared for him, eventually moving him into his home. There remained a hole in St. Martin’s stomach; Beaumont did experiments and discovered the basics of digestion. He published his Observations in 1832.
(40:30) Dr. Allen notes she is out of time but had wanted to speak about Elizabeth Blackwell and Daniel Drake. She concludes by reflecting on the pioneering spirit at work in the Texas Medical Center.

Allen, Virginia

Conversations with the Past: "Dentistry" by Ernest Beerstecher, PhD

This 3/4” U-Matic tape contains a lecture titled "Dentistry" by Ernest Beerstecher, PhD. The lecture took place April 23, 1980, and it was a part of the series “Conversations with the Past.” The recording runs 50:55, with about 50 minutes of lecture content. According to the credits, it was a Medical Community Television System Production. Sally Webb is Producer/Director. Mark Adamcik, Linda A. Morales, and Marilyn Caplovitz were the Technical Staff. The recording is a duplication, in color.
(0:01) The recording begins with videotape leader and a countdown.
(0:20) Program begins with TMC Librarian Beth White at a podium introducing Dr. Ernest Beerstecher, Chairman of Department of Biochemistry at UT Dental Branch and Professor of Dental History.
(0:45) Dr. Beerstecher begins his talk by discussing the history of the TMC land, which he claims was owned by a physician in Spanish Texas in 1820.
(2:46) Dr. Beerstecher discusses his interest in history and its role in predicting the future.
(3:53) He discusses present challenges in dentistry and other medical professions, particularly in reference to advertising and the Federal Trade Commission.
(6:25) History of dentistry. Glossing over ancient history, starting with the Renaissance. He discusses the historical role of priests and barbers.
(8:39) Dentistry as a craft and dentistry as a branch of medicine. These two paths crossed in the U.S. around 1800.
(9:41) Dentistry’s patron saint, Saint Apollonia.
(11:15) Dentistry in art. Presentation slides show art depicting the craftsman dentist.
(14:33) Professional tradition of dentistry, emergent in France. Images and discussions of dental literature. In 1728 Pierre Fauchard published his book The Surgical Dentist. Some of his students came to America. Dr. Beerstecher notes that France had been an early leader in dentistry, but after the French Revolution and the revocation of professional licensing standards, French dentistry declined.
(18:26) American dentists. He mentions George Washington and his dental troubles. Paul Revere practiced dentistry. Revere can be considered the father of American forensic dentistry because he identified General Warren’s body from the Battle of Bunker Hill based on his teeth.
(23:33) Spanish Texas required a license to practice dentistry. Don Pedro Lartique, one of Fauchard's students, received his license in San Antonio in 1806. Dr. Beerstecher claims it’s the oldest dental license in America, and that it became a model for other licenses. After Independence in Texas, there were no more licensing requirements, so more dentists appeared.
(28:51) Texas dentists advertised in newspapers. Dr. Davis in Galveston, Dr. Evans in Houston, Dr. Marks in Houston, barber-surgeon Henry Doebelmann in Houston. Presentation slides show advertisements as well as statistics about dentists in Texas.
(33:22) Organization of dental societies, dental journals, dental schools, and licensing starting in Texas in the 1830s.
(35:18) Dr. Beerstecher uses Doc Holliday to illustrate the experience of dental students.
(41:00) Holliday was born in Georgia then attended the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery. It was in a medical center near medical schools, hospitals, and the like. Dr. Beerstecher describes what it was like to study dentistry there.
(45:00) After dental school, Holliday had a practice in Georgia, but moved west after learning he had tuberculosis. In Dallas he began making dentures and doing other behind-the-scenes dental work, even winning awards. He started playing cards and eventually left town. He later died of tuberculosis.
(47:15) Emphasis on dental education in Texas in 1870s and 1880s, although there was no school. Eventually a school was planned for Galveston, but did not come to pass. In Houston in 1905, a group of citizens including John Henry Kirby advocated and raised money for a dental school at Travis and Congress.
(49:01) Concluding his talk, Dr. Beerstecher emphasizes that an interest in education has been central to the history of Texas dentistry.

Beerstecher, Ernest, Jr