The Dawn of Specialization
The concept of specialization is complex and makes it difficult to know exactly when it started. There is an old joke that says that soon after the world was created Cain became interested in agriculture and Abel in cattle raising. The world had only four inhabitants and two of them were specialists... Regarding Medicine, we may quote Galen, who stated that specialization was common among Roman doctors. The modern medical specialities, however, evolved gradually during the 19th century. I believe that specialization in Otolaryngology begin with Sir William Wilde, Oscar Wilde’s father. Sir William Robert Wills Wilde was born in Ireland, in 1815, a son of a prominent medical practitioner. He called himself an “eye and ear surgeon.” And he was also an archaeologist. He graduated in Medicine in 1837 and became a knight in 1864 for his medical contributions, that included a successful cataract operation performed in the king of Sweden. King Karl XV of Sweden conferred on him a medal ...