Wayland Historical Society: Physick and Chirugery: Practicing Medicine 1750-1850, January 27

Wayland Historical Society is pleased to present PHYSICK AND CHIRUGERY: PRACTICING MEDICINE 1750-1850 with Tony Howes, MD, PhD on Sunday, January 27 ~ 2:30pm at the Raytheon Room at the Wayland Public Library.

Medical practice before the modern era in a town such as Sudbury (Wayland) was limited by a shortage of trained practitioners and by a dearth of knowledge regarding the cause and treatment of disease. Most people would often rely initially on folk or home remedies to treat symptoms of disease as described, for example, in “ The Frugal Housewife “ by Lydia Maria Child. However, if expert care was required they would turn to a country doctor such as Ebenezer Roby.

Such a doctor was expected to differentiate between potentially fatal and self-limited disease and prescribe appropriate palliative remedies. He could dress wounds, set fractures and remove painful teeth. He may have worked with the military in the Revolutionary War and gained experience with amputations, wound care and removal of foreign objects as well as caring for men with contagious diseases such as smallpox and dysentery.

Great advances were being made during this period which set the stage for many of the miracles of modern medicine and we owe a debt of gratitude to the caring country doctor and his long-suffering patients for providing the material that we now often take for granted. Refreshments follow the program.

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