The following are the 10 most famous royal physicians in history.
William Harvey was the court physician to King Charles I. He discovered and documented the circulation of blood in the body, and was one of the founders of modern medicine. His is also noted for having done his work by the means of observation rather than by Greek teachings.
John Caius was a famous physician who also served in the prestigious position of President of the Royal College of Physicians and was a refounder of the institution.
Sir John Forbes was a physician to Queen Victoria 1841 – 1861. He was appointed as court physician to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Goth in 1841. He was most noted for his translation of the French text, De L’Auscultation Mediate. He co-founded A Quarterly Journal of Practical Medicine which helped to promote modern medicine. He was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1853.
Yutog Yoindian Goinbo was the founder of traditional Tibetan medicine and reportedly lived to be 120 years old. His famed medical practice caught the attention of the king who honored him with the title of Number 1 doctor in all of Tibet. He had a sound knowledge of pharmacy, was a skilled surgeon, and he emphasized the testing of urine and feeling the pulse as methods of making proper diagnosis. He was also the author of the famed book, Four Medical Classics.
William Batte (1704 – 1776) was a President of the Royal College of Physicians, but was most revered for his act of extending treatments that were ordinarily reserved for the rich, to the poor. As such, he elevated psychiatry to a respectable specialty field of medicine. The ideas captured in his monograph, A Treatise on Madness, were widely copied by others in the field of psychiatry.
Sir George Baker was Physician in Ordinary to King George III. He was also a president of the Royal College of Physicians. He treated the king with his bought of madness, and tended to him for many years.
Thomas Linacre was founder of the Royal College of Physicians, and after many years as a respected doctor, he became the royal physician to King Henry VIII. He also treated many other notables of England. He resigned his position of royal physician after 11 years and became a priest. He gave his medical fortune to the foundation of chairs at Oxford and Cambridge, and established the Royal College of Physicians.
Sir Theodore Turquet de Mayerne was born in Switzerland and treated kings of both France and England. He played a significant role in medical administration that included the first thoughts on socialized medicine and the standardization of chemical cures. He believed the world was bursting with chemical secrets just waiting to be discovered, and furthered the advancement of the theories of Paracelsus.
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was the first woman to train as a doctor in England. She never actually received her degree due to the male prejudices of the era, but went on to obtain one in Paris. She founded the New Hospital for Women in London, an all-female staffed facility and also formed the London School of Medicine for Women. Her acts of stamina, and incessant appeals to the medical authorities of her day resulted in the 1876 Act that was passed by parliament allowing women to enter all medical professions.
James Parkinson was the first physician to write about what he called the shaky palsy which, sixty years later would became known as Parkinson’s disease when it was recognized as a true medical condition.
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