Collection of Insane and Fun Facts
In 1901, a doctor was told mid-surgery that he was needed urgently elsewhere, to which he responded that he could not leave “even for the President of the United States”. He was then told he needed to operate on William McKinley, the President of the United States. The doctor maintained his claim and actually didn’t leave.
The youngest doctor in the history of the USA graduated medical school at age 17.
50 years before women were allowed to enroll into medical school, Margaret Ann Bulkley dressed as a man for 56 years to study medicine and become her alter-ego, Dr James Barry. It was only when she died in 1865 that her secret was exposed after 46 years working as an army medical officer.
During WW2, an Italian doctor prevented Nazis from taking Jewish patients by claiming they suffered the fictitious ‘K Syndrome’. He saved 45 lives.
In 1984, a 1-year-old received a heart transplant from a baboon but ended up dying 21 days later due to rejection. When questioned with why a baboon and not a primate more closely related to humans, the surgeon said he didn’t believe in evolution.
In 2003 an ER doctor in Idaho saved a patient’s life by performing emergency surgery with a cordless drill in a church parking lot to relieve pressure on his brain caused by internal bleeding.
The first female doctor in Britain spent 56 years disguised as a man. It wasn’t until after her death in 1865, that the doctor’s secret was finally discovered.
A female doctor from Brazil, after being fed up from burglars jumping over her fence and steal her belongings, tapped dozen of HIV-infected syringes atop her metal fence with a warning board saying, ”Wall with HIV positive blood. No trespassing.”
Doctors didn’t wear white coats till the late 1800s. Due to swift advancement in medicine, the public thought discoveries of new antiseptics & the spreading of disease were just mysticism & deceit. In response, doctors adopted the white lab coats to represent a fresh start for the medical field.
Despite the loss of her legs, Li Juhong has been a doctor in her Chinese village since 2001. She uses wooden stools to travel around, has treated over 6,000 people and has a stay-at-home husband who carries her on his back so she can reach patients who live in isolated areas.