Saturday, March 30, is National Doctors’ Day honoring physicians for their compassion, diligence and commitment to improving the health of their communities.
Starting Friday, March 29, please remember to thank doctors throughout the university for their dedication to making lives better and contributing to the well-being of others.
Doctors’ Day originated in 1933 when Eudora Brown Almond, wife of family medicine doctor Charles B. Almond, wanted to recognize doctors for their extraordinary work in Winder, Ga. She enlisted the help of community members to send cards to their doctors and lay flowers on the graves of physicians who had passed away, according to the Southern Medical Association (SMA).
This day of commemoration was chosen because it coincided with the first use of ether anesthesia in surgery by Georgia physician Crawford Long in 1842, according to the SMA.
On March 30, 1958, the United States House of Representatives adopted a resolution to commemorate National Doctors’ Day, according to the SMA.
Patients and the university community are encouraged to send in their messages of gratitude to physicians by clicking here.