Nix, James T.

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The Linacre QuarterlyVolume 12 | Number 1 Article 5January 1944The True Physician (Taken from "A SurgeonReflects")James T. NixFollow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnqRecommended CitationNix, James T. (1944) "The True Physician (Taken from "A Surgeon Reflects")," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 12: No. 1, Article 5.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol12/iss1/5TPE LINACRE 9UARTERLY THE TRUE PH)'SICIAN (Taken from "A Surgepn Reflect.") BY JAMES T. NIX, M.D., NEW ORLEANS, LA. The true physician is by nature born q scj10lar. In obedience to the precept of Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, he must bring to his task a love of labor and perseverance, which, taking root, shall bring forth abundant fruit; with purity and holiness of \ pur-pose he must pass his life and practice in the art of healing. So it has been for the past twenty-five centuries. The tn1e physician leads a life of emJless la_bor, unceasing vigil, and inexhaustible research, work-ing alike amoqg all classes, in the home of the rich and the poor, in plague-ridden villages or in the battle~eld. He observes every mo-tion of the sick, analyzes every reaction, unravels mysteries, pro-pounds theories, evolves practices. He studies tho past, evaluates the present, plans the future. In the daily course of his practice, he learns many secrets and guards them as though they were his own. He follows the precept of ancient Hebrew philosophy: he does jus-tice, loves mercy, and walks hum-bly with his patient and with God. The true physician i~ often a man of divers talents. Doctor Luke, the Beloved Physician, was one of th,~ four great Evangelists . Copernicus, who practiced medi-cine conscientiously, giving his service freely to the poor, found time to expound the principles upon whiQh the complicated science qf modern astronomy Is largely based. Imhotep, the great Egyp-tilln physician, built the first Pyr-amid. The Arabian physician, 1\ vicenna, who dominates medical history for the five centuries from Galen to Vesalius, was the greatest philosopher and theologian of his time. Linacre, the English human-ist; Thomas Campion, the English song writer; Thomas Lodge, the Elizabethan playwright; Sir Thomas Browne, the author of ~t:ligio Medici; Peter Roget, the or1gmator of the Thesaurus; David Livingstone, the Scottish missionary; and Robert Bridges, English poet laureate, were all physicians, as are such outstand-ing authors as Axel Munthe and Alexis Carrel. . Here in America, too, the true physician has been equally versa-tile. In literature alone, the med-icfd men number among .their ranks Oliver Wendell Holmes, Professor of Anatomy at Harvard, but much better known for his witty prose; Silas Weir Mitchell, originator of the American school of thought on neurology-and also the writer of eighteen volumes of literary works ; Edward Trudeau, delight-ful autobiographer, who as a busy physician pioneered in the fight q,gainst tuberculosis ; Sir William Osler, distinguished essayist, and at the same time one of the great-est physicians of all times; John McCrae, Chief of Medical Service THE LINACRE QUA~TE~LY ' at Boulogn r, 1916-1917, and au-thor of th·~ well-loved poem "In " Flanders Fteld"; Harvey Cushing, eminent ne~rologist and winner of t.he Pulitze•' prize in literature for 1925. The list of American physicians in other fields besides, literature is equally inlPressive. It includes William Ja1nes, America's greatest philosopher; Leonard Wood, Chief of Staff of the United States Army; and the five physician-patriots who signed the Declara-tion of Ipdependence-\Volcott, Hall, Rush, Thornton, and Bart-lett. Whatever the versatility of his talents, the true physician is above all,- a true gentleman. He con-forms, in many ways, to Cardinal Newman's definition of the word "one who ~lever inflicts pain." He is the type of man who fits easily into Shakespeare's great tribute, His life was gentle, and the elements So mix'9 in him that Nature might stand up, And say to all the world "This was a man." The tru r physician is Brown-ing's man rith kindness of heart, delicacy of feeling, thoughtfulness for others, unbounded si lent char-ity. He must have the qualities that John B. Murphy ascribeq to a good su rgeon: the eye of an eagle, the heart of a lion, the touch of a woman. A down-to-earther has added-the constitution of a mule! The true physician is a mariner at sea. He is Captain of a craft that carries a helpless frame from the mire ·of di~ease to the shore of health. Disease, suffering, and sorrow, are the troublesome oceans pf his travel. Unmoved, unafraid of lashing waves, l?linding temp-ests, treacherous currents, un-daunted by the poisoned breath ~f pestilence and the ravages of peadly infection, with a life as pis cargo, he carries on. His in-struments are aptitude, long prep-aration, scientific precision, skill-ful technique, and moral integrity. His compensations are abiding faith, fervent prayers, and the re-t,urn to health of his patients.· Guided by the inspiration and peritage of a long line of immortal pealth-captains, he directs the course of his ship to a safe land-ing. MODERN MEDICAL METHODS In otlwr wars the wounded were brought back from the front to the surgeon . Now the United States is saving hundreds of soldiers' lives by sending topflight surgeons forward, often to operate within thirty minptcs after the man is wounded. Among these medical men arc spefialists in every brunch of surgery, drawn from the theatre's surgical pool, known as the Auxiliary Sur-gical Group, and dispatched by the theatre command according to th•' rl:n·'s l!l'l' n s. 

The True Physician (Taken from  A Surgeon Reflects )

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The True Physician (Taken from A Surgeon Reflects )

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