Regius Professor of Military Surgery (Edinburgh)

The Regius Professor of Military Surgery was a 1806 by George III. Endowed Regius Professorship for Military Medicine at the University of Edinburgh . The chair was established in the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars .

Thomson's appointment as Regius Professor in 1806 was viewed by many as a reward for his political support for the Whig Party. His excellent skills were overlooked. Contemporary information suggests that his course in military medicine complemented his lectures as professor of surgery at the College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, where he has taught since 1804. With this he covered all aspects of military surgery , medicine and hygiene . Even if his successor in office, George Ballingal , suggested to a royal commission that Thomson had been on an inadequate course in some way, that was obviously not the case, even though Thomson was not a trained medical doctor. From records of students around 1810 it emerges that the surgery course and the military medicine course hardly overlap. It was not until 1816/17 that Thomson combined the two subjects in one course.

Thomson was widely regarded as the most learned doctor in Scotland and had previously taught chemistry. His Lectures on Inflammation were considered a classic at the time and his Life of Cullen (a biography of William Cullen ) is still considered one of the best works on the great physician of the late 18th century. After the death of James Gregory in 1821, Thomson withdrew from the college professorship in surgery and applied for the chair of medicine (Chair of Physic). It was rejected for purely political reasons. In 1822 Thomson withdrew from the professorship.

His successor, George Ballingal, began to expand the subject despite considerable opposition from colleagues in the medical school. A prospectus from 1824 shows that he planned to offer a more understandable, practical course than his predecessor had done. He discussed the history and advances in military medicine, and looked at keeping soldiers healthy and recruiting methods. In the first part of the course he covered the accommodation of troops and the health-related factors both in Great Britain and abroad. In the second part of the course, typical illnesses and injuries associated with the work of the soldier were treated.

In 1851 another chair in military medicine was established, the Regius Professor of Military Surgery at Trinity College Dublin . There Thomas Jolliffe Tufnell was appointed professor.

Although the chair in Edinburgh encouraged numerous students to take up careers as military doctors, in the country's navy or in the British East India Company , the financial support of the chair was given up shortly after Ballingal's death and the position was no longer filled. In 1860 the chair in Dublin was also closed.

owner

Surname	name suffix	from	to	annotation
John Thomson		1806	1822
George Ballingal	MD	1822	1855	Ballingal had studied at the University of St. Andrews and trained as an assistant at the University of Edinburgh in anatomy . In 1806 he became an assistant surgeon for the 1st Royals. With this unit he served in India for several years. After taking over the chair in 1822, he tirelessly continued to develop the subject for over thirty years, examining the course of illnesses in Europeans in India and the guidelines for the establishment of hospitals. On the occasion of Wilhelm IV's accession to the throne , he was ennobled.
Support discontinued

literature

Matthew H. Kaufman: The Regius Chair of Military Surgery in the University of Edinburgh, 1806-55 . Rodopi, 2003.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v Matthew H. Kaufman: The Regius Chair of Military Surgery in the University of Edinburgh, 1806-55 . Rodopi, Amsterdam / New York 2003, ISBN 90-420-1248-X .
^ ^A ^b D'Arcy Power: Tufnell, Thomas Jolliffe . In: Sidney Lee (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 57: Tom - Tytler. , MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1899 (English).
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Henry Manners Chichester: Ballingall, George . In: Leslie Stephen (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 3: Baker - Beadon. , MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1885 (English).
^ Message from the ennoblement of George Ballingal. In: London Gazette , August 6, 1830.

[Kaufmann2003-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v Matthew H. Kaufman: The Regius Chair of Military Surgery in the University of Edinburgh, 1806-55 . Rodopi, Amsterdam / New York 2003, ISBN 90-420-1248-X .

[DNBTufnell-2] A ^b D'Arcy Power: Tufnell, Thomas Jolliffe . In: Sidney Lee (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 57: Tom - Tytler. , MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1899 (English).

[DNBBallingall-3] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Henry Manners Chichester: Ballingall, George . In: Leslie Stephen (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 3: Baker - Beadon. , MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1885 (English).

[LGaz18715-1689-4] Message from the ennoblement of George Ballingal. In: London Gazette , August 6, 1830.