Jacob Mendes Da Costa

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jacob Mendes Da Costa

Jacob Mendes Da Costa (born February 7, 1833 in Saint Thomas , in the former Danish West Indies . Today US Virgin Islands , † September 11, 1900 in Villanova , Pennsylvania ) was an American surgeon .

Life

When Jacob was four years old, his parents left the Danish colony and went back to Europe. Since they were wealthy, he received an excellent education from private tutors. Then at the age of 13 he attended grammar school in Dresden with his brother Charles. Here he studied not only the old but also the modern languages, so that he could speak German and French fluently. He could also read Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Dutch.

In 1845, at the age of 16, he chose a medical profession and traveled to Philadelphia, where his mother now lived, and began studying medicine at Jefferson Medical College , now Thomas Jefferson University , graduating in 1852. He continued his higher education in Europe. He spent 1 1/2 years in Paris where he became the favorite student of Armand Trousseau (1801-1867). Then went to Prague and Vienna , where he worked with Joseph Hyrtl (1810-1894).

In 1853 Da Costa returned to Philadelphia and until 1861 was a private lecturer at the polyclinic in Moyamensing .

During the Civil War , Da Costa served in the Union Army and at Turner's Lane Hospital in Philadelphia. There he explored somatoform disorders in soldiers , watching for the first time named after him Da-Costa'sche syndrome or Da Costa's syndrome .

After the Civil War, Da Costa continued teaching at the Pennsylvania Hospital . From 1866 he taught clinical medicine at Jefferson Medical College, in 1872 he became Professor of Theory and Practice of Medicine . The American Academy of Arts and Sciences elected him a member in 1881. Da Costa retired in 1891 , during his retirement he worked as a consultant for the reform of medical studies and was from 1899 curator of the University of Pennsylvania .

During his lifetime, nine editions of his book "Medical Diagnosis" appeared and was the first complete manual of its kind. According to Da Costa, cardiophobia is also known as Da Costa syndrome .

Works

literature

  • Notes on Practice of Medicine , from Prof. Da Costa's Lectures, at The Jefferson Medical College, During Sessions of [18] 84-85 and [18] 85-86 by William HE Wehner

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Da Costa, Jacob Mendes
ALTERNATIVE NAMES DaCosta, Jacob Mendes; Da Costa, Jacob Mendez
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American surgeon
DATE OF BIRTH February 7, 1833
PLACE OF BIRTH Saint Thomas , US Virgin Islands
DATE OF DEATH September 11, 1900
Place of death Villanova , Pennsylvania