Edinburgh Medicine Around the World
Leiden Medical School
In 1685, Sir Robert Sibbald, who studied medicine at Leiden, was appointed the first Professor of Medicine in Edinburgh University. Like Sibbald, many of Edinburgh’s original medical professors trained in Leiden.
Sibbald also helped to found a number of key fixtures in Edinburgh. This included the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh, which he established with his cousin Andrew Balfour. In 1670, the garden was near Holyrood Abbey in Holyrood Park, far from its current location at the site of Inverleith House.
He also helped to found the Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh (RCPE), formed by royal charter in 1681. The following year he donated around 100 books to the library, and the RCPE library in Queen’s Street now bears his name.
Dr. Archibald Pitcairne from Edinburgh, who also helped Sibbald to found the RCPE, became Chair of the Practice of Medcine at Leiden University in 1692. Leiden was therefore forever linked to Edinburgh.
However, it wasn't until 1701 that an official medical school was founded by Herman Boerhaave at Leiden University. Hundreds of Scottish students went to Boerhaave's school, five of whom went on to found Edinburgh Medical School in 1726 using Boerhaave's model and those used at the University of Pauda.
These founding faculty included John Rutherford, and Andrew Sinclair, who would become the two foudning Professors of the Theory and Practice of Medicine.
The remaining two founding faculty members were Andrew Plummer, and John Innes, who would become the two Professors of Medicine and Chemistry.
These four professors would be joined by John Monro, who had envisioned the school and helped in the four professors' petition to the town council to form the medical school.
Since 1977, RMS Council members have participated in an annual exchange trip with its counterpart committee from the Stichting Panacee (Panacea Foundation) at Leiden University in the Netherlands.
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Egypt
Arthur Cecil Alport was a South African physician who recieved an MBChB at Edinburgh University in 1905.
He is most known for discovering Alport's syndrome in 1927, a deficiency of type IV collagen, causing defects in the ears, eyes and kidneys, alongside other structures where type IV collagen is found.
Following his degree, he returned to practice in Johannesburg, before serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps during the First World War where he became an expert on tropical diseases such as malaria (consequently writing a book on "Malaria and its Treatment".
So why is Alport marked under this section on Egypt? In 1937, Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin, advised Alport to take up a post as professor of medicine at King Fuad I Hospital, University of Cairo. There, he was stunned by the levels of corruption, fraud and dishonesty within Egypt's hospitals, and of its maltreatment of the poor.
Faced with institutionalised corruption, Alport made it his mission to reform Egypt's corrupt system, writing about his observations and efforts in the leaflet "One Hour of Justice: The Black Book of the Egyptian Hospitals."
Despite this pamphlet being a part of Egyptian legislation for reform in 1944, Alport felt that he had failed, as he resigned his position after six years of battling the system. Furthermore, he felt that his colleagues in Britain had failed to give him the much needed support he needed to make meaningful reform. In protest he resigned his Fellowship to the Royal College of Physicians London.
China
For this display we are going to explore three graduates of Edinburgh medical school: Wong Fun, Lim Boon Keng and Zhong Nanshan.
Dr Wong Fun was the first Chinese citizen to study in Europe. He subsequently became the first Western educated Chinese doctor. From Xiangshan (now modern day Zhuhai), in the province of Guandong, Fun attended the Morrison Education Society School in Hong Kong.
From there, he and two other Chinese students travelled with headmaster Dr A. S. Brown to the Monson Academy in Massachussets, where Wong studied literature.
With a degree in literature, Wong travelled to Edinburgh by request from the financiers of his studies, and gained a degree in medicine for his thesis "On the Functional Disorders of the Stomach."
Following his degree, Dr Wong returned to Hong Kong in 1857 and in 1858 started a dispensary in Canton. This was at the time of the Taiping Rebellion, when Canton Hospital was closed. This meant that his dispensary was essential. Eventually, when Canton Hospital reopened, he taught anatomy, physiology, practical medicine, and chemistry at the institution.
In 1866 he also helped to guide the opening of Canton Medical school, translating many textbooks, expanding a laboratory, and set up a curriculum, ensuring that a new generation of Chinese doctors would also be able to practice Western medicine.
Since September 2007 a statue of Dr Wong Fun has stood at the Confucius Institute for Scotland. This was after Principal for the University of Edinburgh Timothy O'Shea presented Dr Wong's transcripts and exam results to his home town.
Lim Boon Keng, a Chinese Singaporean, is a highly respected figure in Southeast Asia. Having excelled at Raffles Institution in Singapore, Lim became the first Chinese national to gain the Queen's Scholarship in 1887. This scholarship allowed him to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh.
Whilst there he served as librarian for the Royal Medical Society. However, he also felt a sense of disconnect from both the white Scottish students, some of whom would humiliate the Chinese students, and from the Chinese students who spoke fluently in their native language. In the face of this, he taught himself Mandarin and Cantonese after feeling isolated from his Chinese colleagues, and graduated in 1892 with a first class degree.
In 1893 he returned to Singapore, and quickly gained a reputation as a skilled physician whilst also advocating for social reform, helping to bridge the gap between Western ideals and those of China. He fought against marriage rituals, opium smoking, and was a staunch supporter of Confucian ethics; a humanistic ethical code.
He also helped to set up The Dispensary at Raffles Place, Singapore's oldest commercial centre.
Between 1921 and 1937 he served as President of Amoy university (now Xiamen University) before resigning in 1937 and returning to Singapore to support it during the Second World War. Made president of the Overseas Chinese Association by the Japanese after they had invaded Singapore, Lim elected to undermine the Japanese occupying force by pretending to support them whilst also resorting to passive resistance.
Overall, after studying in Edinburgh and searching for his identity, Dr Lim Boon Keng went on to lead a cultural and intellectual revolution. He used his sense of identity to bring together the best of East and West. Ultimately in discovering his place as intermediary between two differing cultures, he lived with a great understanding of what it means to be human.
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A visiting student to the University of Edinburgh from 1979 to 1981, epidemiologist and pulmonologist Dr Zhong Nanshan, pictured here with his wife, was integral to the response to both SARS Cov outbreaks in China. He was President of the Chinese Medical Association from 2005 - 2010.
However, he is most known for his role in the 2003 SARS outbreak. In December 2002, him and his team at the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases began to see people suffering from "atypical pneumonia". As of an emergency meeting in January 2003, with more cases emerging, the fight against the SARS Coronavirus began.
It was his decision to go against the state mandated line that saved lives: Whilst the official Chinese Centre for Disease Control's position was that the atypical pneumonia was not a severe outbreak, Zhong's pessimistic assessment ensured that China, and the world, was alerted to the severity of the situation. At one press conference he famously blurted out, "The virus is still spreading, so how can it be under control?"
By not downplaying the crisis, and risking his reputation and career to dispute the government, he saved countless lives and became a hero. People in China still remember what he did in the 2003 epidemic, with campaigns on preventing the spread of the virus shared all over the nation in 2019/2020 revolving around his message. He has become a voice for the people of China, cutting through the disinformation and confusion surrounding SARS-Cov-2.
At the age of 84, has also helped as an advisor to manage the novel outbreak, leading a National Health Commission expert panel to research the novel outbreak.
For his efforts during both the 2003 SARS outbreak and the 2019-2020 pandemic, Zhong received the first Being Edinburgh award for actions that inspire the Edinburgh community. He was also made an honorary Doctor of Medicine (MD) by the University of Edinburgh in 2007.
Australian Medical Schools
The University of Sydney Faculty of Medicine was started by many Edinburgh Medical Graudates. Amongst them was Dr Anderson Stuart, who graduated from Edinburgh in 1880 with a first class degree and many awards, and after spending a year in Strassburg, and in 1881 becoming chief demonstrator to the professor of physiology in Edinburgh, became chair of anatomy and physiology at the University of Syndey in 1882.
In 1883, Anderson Stuart petitioned for the building of a permanent building for the medical school, and from 1883 as dean of medicine, grew the medical school from its first intake of 6 students, all of whom Anderson Stuart failed, to 604 students in 1912.
Amongst Anderson Stuart's classmataes at medical school were Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Alexander MacCormick, who joined him as demonstrater in 1883, and Robert Scott Skirving, who was lecturer at the University of Sydney from 1889-1911.
Other Edinburgh graduates that Anderson Stuart called upon as faculty included David Arthur Welsh, who graduated medical school in 1893, and James Thomas Wilson, who graduated in 1883.
However, none of this would have existed without the help of another Edinburgh Medicine graduate, Charles Nicholson, who graduated in 1833 ith a thesis on asphyxiation.
Nicholson was integral to the founding of Australia's first university in Sydney, having travelled to Australia in 1833 where he became an integral part of its governance. He helped to form the university, and donated a large collection of Egyptian, Roman and Greek artefacts to the university, leading to founding of the Nicholson museum in 1860.
However, whilst the University of Sydney was the first university in Australia, the University of Melbourne was the first medical school.
However, whilst the University of Sydney was the first university in Australia, the University of Melbourne was the first medical school. A part of its inception was Dr Godfrey Howitt, who graduated from Edinburgh Medical School in 1830.
The renowned botanist and entomologist travelled to Melbourne in 1839, serving on the University of Melbourne's council from 1853-1871 and on the Medical School Committee. Then in 1862, with an intake of just three students, the medical school was established.
Queensland
Peter Doherty is a veterinary surgeon from Brisbane, Queensland. After studying veterinary science at the University of Queensland, Doherty travelled to Edinburgh to study a PhD, working at the Moredun Research Institute in Edinburgh. His thesis explored "Studies in the Experimental Pathology of Louping-Ill Enchepalitis", looking at the pathogenesis and neuropathology of an acute virus primarily found in sheep and transmitted by ticks.
Following his PhD he returned to Melbourne to continue his research into the immune system. Alongside Rolf Zinkernagel, he discovered how T cells recognise their target antigens in combination with Major Histocompatibility complex proteins, recognising self and foreign antigens.
This "single T cell/altered self" model was described in 4 letters to Nature from 1973-1975. This research won him and Zinkernagel the 1996 Nobel prize for medicine and physiology.
The American Revolutionary War
Some of Edinburgh Medical School's graduates were key parts of the American Revolution, becoming part of George Washington's inner circle, or joining the continental army. One of these men was Benjamin Rush, who graduated with an M.D. from Edinburgh 1768, and a great admirer of William Cullen.
Returning to the Colonies, he set up a medical practice and became active in the Sons of Liberty, the secret revolutionary organisation that sparked the American Revolution with their motto "no taxation without representation". During the War for Independence, Rush was a physician on the battlefield, as well as having the position of Surgeon General of the Continental Army; the revolutionary force lead by George Washington.
Rush is depicted in a painting by John Turner entitled "The Death of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton", where Mercer was mortally wounded and Rush failed to save him. Rush was also one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence, becoming one of the founding fathers of the United States.
However, there is some controversy surrounding Rush. Whilst he is seen as the father of medicine in the US, and a great advocate for mental health, Rush eventually discarded the teachings of those he held in such high esteem, such as William Cullen, and became an advocate for depletion theory - the idea that there was only one disease.
This belief was put to the test when an epidemic of yellow fever reached Philadelphia - when his proposed treatment let to 4 of 5 people dying, Rush panicked and proposed bloodletting as the solution. He stated that the average person had 25 ounces of blood, and that one should remove 80% to cure the disease. Mortality rates skyrocketed, and by 1797, after attacks from his enemies and concerned doctors, his practice ended.
Born in Scotland, James Craik also studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. After joining the British Army immediately after graduation, he became good friends with George Washington during the French and Indian Wars. On the outbreak of the War for Independence, Craik joined the revolutionary army as a surgeon, becoming Physician General (the second highest rank in the army for a medic).
He was one of the doctors present, alongside Benjamin Rush, who failed to save General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton. However, he succeeded in Gilbert du Motier, who would go on to play a key part in the French Revolution. Craik served as Washington's personal physician, and was one of the doctors who treated him on his deathbed in 1799, treating him bloodletting, and a rectal solution of camomile and water.
Another of the men to treat Washington on his deathbed was Gustavus Richard Brown, Graduating in 1768, with the thesis "De ortu animalium caloris", Brown helped to found the hospital department of the continental army, and was surgeon-general of the army.
After Washington's death, James Craik was so impressed with Brown that he said to Washington's wife, Martha, that if anything serious were to occur, she should call for Dr Brown. Later, in a letter to Craik, Dr Brown stated that they should not have bled Washington so much.
William Shippen Jr graduated from Edinburgh Medical School in 1761, Returning to Philadelphia in 1763, he and John Morgan opened the first medical school in what would become the U.S. He therefore became the first professor of anatomy, surgery and midwifery in North America, although he was often overlooked in favour of John Morgan, who was seen as the founder of the medical school.
His office was also often attacked by an angry mob for his use of cadavers in teaching. Shippen and Morgan, once good friends after meeting in London to watch the coronation of George III, had their relationship soured by arrogance and jealousy. Shippen was more liked. Morgan became the first American fellow of the Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh, Shippen the second.
In 1776, Shippen joined the Continental Army, and within nine months had replaced Morgan as Director General of Hospitals. Morgan was fired by congress in January 1777, and Shippen appointed in April of that year bringing a large remodelling of the hospitals.
However, with issues in his tenure, he was open to attacks from Morgan and Benjamin Rush, leading to Shippen being court-martialled in 1780. Whilst Shippen escaped punishment, he resigned in 1781.
Another figure who was involved in the American Revolution returned to the Colonies at the height of war. Henry Latimer who studied at the University of Edinburgh from 1775.
He served in a flying hospital, a mobile unit that congress called to be attached to each army, and the responsibility of William Shippen and another volunteer doctor John Cochran to build. He served at the Battle of Brandywine, and would go on to become a politician within the Union.
United States Universities
As well as the medical school started by Morgan and Shippen, several other medical schools were started by Edinburgh alumni. One of these men was Samuel Bard. Born in Philadelphia, Bard graduated from Edinburgh with an M.D. in 1765 with his thesis on the effects of opium on the human body, becoming one of the first American graduates from the medical school.
Bard went on to found the second medical school in the US - King's College, New York in 1767 (present day Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons). This school was modelled on the University of Edinburgh, and awarded the first MD to someone in the Thirteen Colonies, Robert Tucker. Following the American Revolutionary War, George Washington asked Bard to become his personal physician.
Whilst Benjamin Waterhouse graduated from Leiden University in 1780, he studied at Edinburgh for nine months. He dedicated his graduating thesis from Leiden to another Edinburgh graduate, Dr. John Fothergill, who Waterhouse studied under in London.
He co-founded Harvard Medical School in 1782 along with John Warren (1753-1815) and Aaron Dexter (1750-1829). He was also appointed as Harvard's first Professor of Theory and Practice of Medicine. Another achievement of Waterhouse included introducing Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccine to the US.
