Advances in general surgery 50 years ago

In 1971, some of the new advances that were set to change the field of general surgery included theories about the development of peptic ulcers, new treatments for varicose veins and pioneering work in the introduction of day case surgery.

Online Assessment of Applied Anatomy Knowledge: The Effect of Images on Medical Students' Performance

Anatomical examinations have been designed to assess topographical and/or applied knowledge of anatomy with or without the inclusion of visual resources such as cadaveric specimens or images, radiological images, and/or clinical photographs. Multimedia learning theories have advanced the understanding of how words and images are processed during learning. However, the evidence of the impact of including anatomical and radiological images within written assessments is sparse. This study investigates the impact of including images within clinically oriented single-best-answer questions on students' scores in a tailored online tool. Second-year medical students (n = 174) from six schools in the United Kingdom participated voluntarily in the examination, and 55 students provided free-text comments which were thematically analyzed. All questions were categorized as to whether their stimulus format was purely textual or included an associated image. The type (anatomical and radiological image) and deep structure of images (question referring to a bone or soft tissue on the image) were taken into consideration. Students scored significantly better on questions with images compared to questions without images (P < 0.001), and on questions referring to bones than to soft tissue (P < 0.001), but no difference was found in their performance on anatomical and radiological image questions. The coding highlighted areas of "test applicability" and "challenges faced by the students." In conclusion, images are critical in medical practice for investigating a patient's anatomy, and this study sets out a way to understand the effects of images on students' performance and their views in commonly employed written assessments.

Thomas Willis: physician who described the circle of Willis, the arterial anastomosis at the base of the brain

Thomas Willis is known for the discovery and description of the circle of Willis, but his contributions to the development of medicine were much broader, including the first use of the term 'neurology'.

'An operation under difficulties' 100 years ago

In a change from recalling births, deaths or medical discoveries, this article looks at a paper published in The Lancet 100 years ago. Occupying a little more than a single column, its vivid description of an operation carried out successfully under primitive conditions will be of great interest.

Richard Wiseman: the best known English surgeon of the 17th century

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the birth of Richard Wiseman, acknowledged to be the best known surgeon in this country in the 17th century. His authorship of the surgical textbook Several Chirurgical Treatises gave him the well-deserved reputation for being regarded as the father of English surgery.

Neurological rehabilitation following heat illness in the UK Armed Forces

Heat illness remains a significant threat to health in the UK Armed Forces despite recent improvements in the prevention of cases. A small number of heat illness survivors develop long-term neurological sequelae. Here we briefly review the background literature and present our experience of treating UK Armed Forces patients with neurological consequences of heat illness. In our cohort of patients, we observed significant improvements in subjective symptoms and objective assessments following a period of neurological rehabilitation at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre. We conclude with recommendations for further research and for the incorporation of screening for neurological disability following heat illness into service policy.

Academic surgery in the UK and the Surgical Research Society 50 years ago

Fifty years ago, in 1970, academic surgical units had finally been established throughout the universities in the UK. Such departments had been created in the Scottish university cities in the 19th century; some medical schools in London had resisted this custom, but by now these bastions of the old system had surrendered!

Augustus Volney Waller: physiologist who described distal degeneration of severed nerve fibres

Most readers will be familiar with the term 'Wallerian degeneration' - the degenerative changes that take place in nerve fibres distal to the site of their division. Few, I would respectfully suggest, would know very much about the discoverer of this phenomenon, Augustus Waller. This year marks the 200th anniversary of his death.

General William Gorgas: outstanding medical administrator

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the death of General William Crawford Gorgas, probably the most famous public health administrator, who first achieved fame for his work in dealing with the epidemic of yellow fever in Cuba in the early 20th century.

James Syme: distinguished Edinburgh surgeon of the 19th century

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the death of James Syme, one of the most distinguished members of the Edinburgh school of surgery in the 19th century.

Jules Bordet: immunologist, bacteriologist and Nobel Prize winner

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Jules Jean Baptiste Vincent Bordet, to give him his full name, the Belgian immunologist and bacteriologist.

State of the art urology 100 years ago

One hundred years ago, on 27 May 1920, the inaugural meeting of the Section of Urology was held at the Royal Society of Medicine in London. The lecture, by Sir Peter Freyer KCB, paints a vivid picture of the state of art of urological surgery a century ago.

Management of breast cancer 50 years ago

In 1970, 50 years ago, I had headed the newly established Academic Unit of Surgery at the Westminster Medical School for 10 years. Since my appointment there in 1960, and for the next 30 years, one of my main interests as a general surgeon was the management of diseases of the breast - breast cancer in particular.