Pedro L. Mangabeira Albernaz

(History of Medicine ... 3) Galen was a Greek physician who spent a long period of his life in Rome. He was also a philosopher and probably  the most important medical researcher of his time. He was born in Pergamon in 129 and died in Rome in 200. Galen's medical theories dominated medical science for nearly two thousand years. He performed many anatomical studies, based on dissections of monkeys and pigs, and these studies were accepted until 1543, when Vesalius published his De Humani Corporis Fabrica . It must be noted that Roman law prohibited the dissection of human cadavers. In spite of his many mistakes, the descriptions that we find in his writings were extremely rich in details. We do not know whether he was a good clinical observer, because, unlike Hippocrates, who reported both his successes and his failures, Galen reported only his successes. He was also known for employing many medications derived from different plants and prepared by himself and designed many ...

I was in Los Angeles for a COSM Meeting in 1993. My wife and I were calmly watching television in the morning when the telephone rang. It was Bill House. “Marlene,” he said, “I was at the Business Meeting of the Otological Society and Pedro was nominated an Honorary Member. You two must come to the dinner tonight. It will be a formal dinner.” I was flabbergasted! Becoming an Honorary Member of such an important Society was much more than I ever could expect. And I had no tuxedo. What was I going to do? But when Bill House says “you must come” one just has to do it. My wife calmed me down. She called the hotel’s concierge and he found us a place where I could rent a tuxedo. And we went to the dinner. At the AOS Dinner, between two good friends, Drs. Eugene Myers (left) and William House (right). The American Otological Society was founded in 1868 and has had annual meetings since then, except for one year in which there was a railroad strike and two years during the Second World War b...

(History of Medicine ... 2) The Greeks offered us more than beautiful legends and a physician who was a God. They also gave us the Father of Medicine. Hippocrates was the first man who believed that diseases did not result from punishments inflicted by the Gods. He assured his disciples that they resulted from natural causes, environment and habits.  Because of these concepts he was arrested, spending 20 years of his life in prison. It was during these years that he wrote most of his texts on Medicine. He was born in the island of Kos around the year 460 BC and lived for 83 or 90 years, according to different sources. He also established the Ethics of medical practice; parts of his oath are universally read by the young doctors when they graduate from Medical School. In the old days it began like this: I swear by Apollo the physician, and Asclepius, and Hygieia and Panacea, and I take to witness all the gods and godesses that, according to my ability and judgement, I will...

The Collegium Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Amicitiae Sacrum was founded in the Netherlands by Professors Charles Emile Benjamins, from Groningen, and Adriaan De Kleyn, from Utrecht. The reflections of the First World War were still dividing scientists of different countries, and they wanted them to join again. After all, wars are created by politicians, not by scientists. They also wanted meetings with a small number of people, both for achieving a high scientific level and to stimulate friendship among the associates. They wrote a letter inviting members of different countries and the first Meeting happened in Groningen, in 1926. It gradually became the most prestigious of the otolaryngological societies. I was invited to join the Collegium in 1982. My first Meeting was in The Hague, the President was Prof. L. B. W. Jongkees, the Secretary-General was Prof. C. R. Pfaltz, from Basel, who held this post from 1977 to 1986. Queen Beatrix came to the opening ceremony of the Meeting.  Que...