The Incision That Changed the World of Womanhood.
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Please listen to the classical composition to the left to set the mood for the page.
This rendition is played on a clavichord, an instrument which Mrs. McDowell played. |
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In 1809, the same year Abraham Lincoln was born, Dr. Ephraim McDowell and Mrs. Jane Crawford, mother of five, made the decision to embark on a journey of medical discovery – a journey whose path had not yet been safely tread. This decision would be a revolutionary one, one which would lead to the well-being of millions of women over the next 203 years. The pair knew the risks – opening the abdominal cavity was a known cause of fatal bleeding – but they also knew that leaving what was already so large a tumor unattended would inevitably lead to a slow and painful death. With faith and courage to aid them both, they decided to embark on this journey of medical discovery, thus changing the world of womanhood and making Dr. McDowell “The Father of Ovariotomy.” |
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“When McDowell and his memorable patient met, it was a case of a daring man and a courageous woman coming together to settle a problem; and when two such elements meet, action always results, and it usually ends in the solution of the problem. In this case the solution was not only the best one, but the full extent of its benefits, although at the time unknown to either of them was destined to spread and enlarge in scope through the eons of time to the benefit of numberless millions of human beings, suffering not alone from ovarian tumors, but from any other abdominal condition of a surgical nature.” ~August Schachner in Ephraim McDowell, "Father of Ovariotomy" and Founder of Abdominal Surgery |
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“Did McDowell have courage? He had plenty. Did he have faith? Plenty. Did he have confidence? Yes. All these attributes, qualities necessary to leadership in surgery, were his.” ~C.V. Mosby, M.D., Sc.D. A Little Journey to the Home of Ephraim McDowell |
Brittany Wilharm
Senior Division
Individual Website
Word Count: 1123
Senior Division
Individual Website
Word Count: 1123
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