South Florida Hospital News – March 2021
By Frank Astor, MD, MBA, FACS, Chief Medical Officer for WITHmyDOC
March 30 is Doctors’ Day, an annual observance for acknowledging and appreciating physicians who we rely on and trust to make us feel better, cure our disease, and even save lives. The holiday first started in 1933 in Winder, Georgia, and since then it has been honored every year on March 30 which was the first anniversary of Dr. Crawford Long, an American surgeon, using ether as a general anesthetic to perform major surgeries without pain.
Eudora Brown Almond, the wife of a doctor in Georgia, believed her husband and other physicians deserved more recognition for their hard work and set out to make this idea a reality, exactly 91 years after Dr. Long’s remarkable discovery.
Some notable facts about physicians:- In the U.S., there are over 700,000 doctors.
- Nearly half (47%) of graduating medical students in 2018 were female.
- Some doctors work as many as 60-80 hours per week
- It can take up to 11 years to become a doctor in the United States.
Centuries before coronavirus, plague, smallpox, yellow fever, Spanish flu and other contagions killed hundreds of millions around the world. Physicians and medical researchers worked tirelessly to find ways to eradicate these deadly diseases. Many of them did their work in a laboratory with little notoriety or fanfare.
Throughout the past year, physicians and healthcare providers have battled the Corona Dragon, risking their lives to make others better. While we say thank you after our clinic visits or annual check-ups, it is now, more than ever that these courageous men and women on the frontline are saluted for their heroism and dedication to the communities they serve.
Although the publication date of this editorial is March 1, I salute my fellow colleagues not only on this day, but for the entire month of March and for the past year. We will get through this pandemic. We are grateful to our physicians for leading us through this difficult time. We relied upon you and once again … you saved lives, cured our symptoms, and made us feel better.
Saludos, Cheers and Bravo! Thank You!
