Another artist, local sculptor Michael Jernigan, recently audited a clinical anatomy course at the College of Medicine in search of a better understanding of the relationship between bones and muscle. Jernigan’s bronzed statue of John Thrasher soon will be erected in the atrium near the entrance to the student affairs offices.

Hippocrates - Born on the Greek island of Cos in 460 BCE, Hippocrates is known as the father of clinical medicine. He founded a medical school on his native island and instructed pupils in the treatment of the body as a whole, rather than a series of parts.  Several of his practices were innovative in contrast with the traditional healing methods of the ancient world. He was the first to indicate that the mind, not the heart, was the source of thoughts and feelings, and he prescribed rest, hygiene, and diet as an effective healing process.  The Oath of Medical Ethics, attributed to his writings, is taken by physicians to the present day. Hippocrates died in 377 B.C.

Elizabeth Blackwell - Born in England, Elizabeth Blackwell moved to the United States in 1832. She taught school while reading medicine privately and eventually undertook what she described as a “moral struggle” to earn a medical degree. Rejected by all the leading schools, she was eventually admitted to Geneva Medical College, Geneva, New York. She graduated first in her class in January 1849, becoming the first woman medical graduate of the modern era. When New York hospitals and dispensaries refused her association, Dr. Blackwell opened The New York Infirmary for Women & Children in 1857.  With her sister, Emily, also a physician, she helped create the infirmary’s Medical College for Women, which operated from 1868 to 1899.  She went on to become a prolific writer and eventually returned to England, where she held the Chair of Gynecology at the London School of Medicine for Women from 1875 until she retired in 1907 at the age of 86.

John Gorrie - As physician, scientist, inventor, and humanitarian, Dr. John Gorrie contributed innovations in medical care and public health. His study of tropical diseases influenced him to move to Apalachicola, Florida, in 1833.  During an outbreak of yellow fever, he used resourceful methods to prevent its spread. He urged draining the swamps, clearing weeds, and maintaining clean food-markets in the city. His concern for patients led him to invent the precursor to the modern air conditioner. At first he suspended ice from the ceiling, but soon developed a compressor to cool water. He was granted a patent from the Smithsonian Institution, where his original model is displayed today.