Today we are celebrating the Day of the Physician in the Americas, for which we wish all our colleagues of this great profession the very best in these difficult times of SARS-CoV 2 pandemic and resiliently persistent Social Isolation guidelines, which has taxed the patience of all of us. Salve!
We are transcribing an article that we had written a few years back about the origins of this day:
“On December 3rd, we are celebrating the Day of the Physician in the Americas in honor of all the dedicated and hard-working professionals tending to the health care needs of people from Alaska in the extreme North to Ushuaia in the extreme South.
The Panamerican Health Organization (or Organización Panamericana de la Salud in Spanish) designated this day in honor of Carlos Juan Finlay Barres, a Cuban physician and researcher who had discovered in 1881 that the Yellow Fever was transmitted through an insect vector like Aedes Aegypti; he was born on December 3, 1833 in Puerto PrÍncipe, Cuba, and studied Medicine at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia.
Note. This reproduction of an image of Dr. Carlos Finlay was taken from Wikimedia Commons.
Dr. Finlay, dubbed as “the mosquito doctor” by his detractors, had a hard time to prove his hypothesis but he finally collected enough clinical data to submit to the Yellow Fever panel headed by Dr. Walter Reed that finally accepted his findings in 1901. That medical breakthrough prodded the Panama Canal authorities to set up the proper sanitary conditions in the workers’ camps in order to finish the humongous project. In 1902 Dr. Finlay headed the precursor office of the present day PHO. Dr. Remo Bergoglio, an Argentine physician acting on behalf of the Sociedad Médica de Córdoba, submitted a proposal to celebrate this day on the floor of the PHO congress in Dallas in 1953.
To my dear colleagues of the Americas, thank you for your devoted daily work. Cheers!
A mes collègues de l’Amérique, felicitations pour votre travail dévouée de tous les jours. Salut!
A mis queridos colegas de las Americas, gracias por su trabajo abnegado de todos los días. Salud!
Stay distant. Stay safe. Stay beautiful.
What do you think? Please tell us.
Don’t leave me alone.
Felicidades, Agradecimientos y que se acaben las Pandemias!