A “lyrical, inspirational” story of doctors who changed the health care of an African nation (Tom Brokaw, author of The Greatest Generation) Dr. Dilan Ellegala arrives in Tanzania, shocked to find the entire country has just three brain surgeons for its population of forty-two million. Haydom Lutheran Hospital lacks even the most basic surgical tools, not even a saw to open a patient’s skull. Here, people with head injuries or brain tumors heal on their own or die. When confronted with a villager suffering from a severe head trauma, Dilan buys a tree saw from a farmer, sterilizes it, and then uses it to save the man’s life. Yet Dilan realizes that there are far too many neurosurgery patients for one person to save, and of course he will soon be leaving Tanzania. He needs to teach someone his skills. He identifies a potential student in Emmanuel Mayegga, a stubborn assistant medical officer who grew up in a mud hut. Though Mayegga has no medical degree, Dilan sees that Mayegga has the dexterity, intelligence, and determination to do brain surgery. Over six months, he teaches Mayegga how to remove tumors and treat hydrocephalus. And then, perhaps more important, Dilan teaches Mayegga how to pass on his newfound skills. Mayegga teaches a second Tanzanian, who teaches a third. It’s a case of teach-a-man-to-fish meets brain surgery. As he guides these Tanzanians to do things they never thought possible, Dilan challenges the Western medical establishment to do more than send vacationing doctors on short-term medical missions. He discovers solutions that could transform health care for two billion people across the world. A Surgeon in the Village is the incredible and riveting account of one man’s push to “train-forward”—to change our approach to aid and medical training before more lives are needlessly lost. His story is a testament to the transformational power of teaching and the ever-present potential for change. As many as seventeen million people die every year because of a shortage of surgeons, more than die from AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. Dilan Ellegala and other visionaries are boldly proposing ways of saving lives.

Today he is known as Dr. Q, an internationally renowned neurosurgeon and neuroscientist who leads cutting-edge research to cure brain cancer. But not too long ago, he was Freddy, a nineteen-year-old undocumented migrant worker toiling in the tomato fields of central California. In this gripping memoir, Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa tells his amazing life story—from his impoverished childhood in the tiny village of Palaco, Mexico, to his harrowing border crossing and his transformation from illegal immigrant to American citizen and gifted student at the University of California at Berkeley and at Harvard Medical School. Packed with adventure and adversity—including a few terrifying brushes with death—Becoming Dr. Q is a testament to persistence, hard work, the power of hope and imagination, and the pursuit of excellence. It’s also a story about the importance of family, of mentors, and of giving people a chance.

"This book was previously published in 2004 under the title The apprenticeship of Doctor Laverty, by Insomniac Press, Toronto"--T.p. verso.

Description The miracles and tragedies of life, the compassion and cruelties of humanity are nowhere more visible than in the field of medicine. It is these that Kavery Nambisan-doctor and writer of immense sensitivity-explores in this memoir, drawing upon her work as a surgeon over four decades in rural and small-town India. Through her patients' stories, she depicts the highs and lows of medical practice: Sudha, in Mokama, Bihar, left immobilized waist-down after being set on fire by her in-laws, but determined to walk; construction workers in Lonavala, Maharashtra, who preferred the quick-fix of the 'drip', so that they wouldn't miss their daily wage; four-year-old Pavana in the Anamallais, mauled by a leopard, who had to be driven over 40 kilometres of gutted roads to the nearest hospital. And in contrast, the friend of a Tamil Nadu chief minister who could summon a doctor repeatedly, at will, to attend to her stubbed toe. Settled in Kodagu, Karnataka, after years of practice in hospitals, Kavery now works as a GP, and she writes about treating snake bites, skin diseases, tuberculosis, epileptic seizures and, lately, Covid-19; even as she helps some of her patients hide their meagre savings from alcoholic husbands. Throughout, Kavery also examines the evolution of medical practice and the state of India's public health; and weaves in episodes from her personal life: learning from heroes and rogues, coming into her own as a surgeon, and nursing her husband, the poet Vijay Nambisan, who was claimed by cancer. Engaging, incisive and deeply felt, A Luxury Called Health shows, as few books have ever done, 'the sincerity and the deception, the valour and the cowardice beneath the white coat'.

Vol. 1 includes "the installation of Frank Le Rond Mc Vey...as president of the University of North Dakota. Programs and proceedings." Called inauguration number, dated Sept. 1910.

Pierre-François Percy was Surgeon-in-Chief of Napoleon’s Grande Armée. This is the first English translation of Baron Percy’s notebooks, containing his interesting, revealing, and informative testimony of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic campaigns in which he played an active role, as the most senior surgeon in the French Army, from 1799-1807. In his journal, Percy writes intimately about his life on campaign. He recounts his experiences across Europe, particularly in Switzerland (Helvetia), Germany, and Poland. The journal shows Percy’s delight at seeing his surgeons recognized for their work at Eylau, and his notes express his shock at the brazen corruption of military officials and the indiscriminate pillaging to which the French army frequently resorted. He recounts his audiences with Napoleon, during which his pleas for more resources and a more professional military surgical corps frequently fell on deaf ears. Details that may have seemed trivial to Percy’s contemporaries – about food, accommodation, dress, and transport – now offer a vital insight into the persistent struggles, and occasional pleasures, of those who followed Napoleon on his quest to conquer Europe. Percy documents his experiences of some of the major battles of the period; namely, Jena, Eylau, and Friedland. As a surgeon, he witnessed the enormous scale of devastation wrought by these significant battles, so often glorified in the historiography as tactical successes. His descriptions are meticulous and personal; injuries are described scientifically, their stark details offering a vivid and horrifying picture of the aftermath of the fighting. Percy’s singular position – living with the soldiers and sharing in their poor conditions, while also being aware of the administrative decisions that governed (and often negatively impacted) their lives – makes for an account that is simultaneously fascinating for the general reader and invaluable for scholars of military and surgical history.