When the Physician Becomes the Patient: Mayo Clinic Neurologist Alexander MacLean, Cortisone, and Disability In-Person / Online
Imagine this: It’s 1952. You are 44 years old, a Mayo Clinic physician with a promising career, a wife, and six children. Severe rheumatoid arthritis has left you unable to practice medicine. What do you do next?
For Mayo Clinic neurologist Alexander MacLean, this was not hypothetical. Once described as “destined to greatness,” MacLean became one of the earliest patients treated with cortisone, experiencing both its dramatic benefits and its serious consequences. His little-known story intertwines pioneering neurology, one of medicine’s great therapeutic breakthroughs, disability, financial hardship, and the profound transformation from physician to patient.
Presenter:
Christopher J. Boes, M.D.
Professor of Neurology, Professor of History of Medicine
Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
Related LibGuide: W. Bruce Fye History of Medicine Library by Emily Brown
Registration for in-person attendance is required by Tuesday, October 13th.
