Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2012 March 7

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March 7

Talented individuals without formal medical education

Are there examples of individuals who, despite lack of formal medical education, have made significant contribution to the field of medicine/associated disciplines? The examples should be after the time when the current formal medical system was established. --SupernovaExplosion ^Talk 07:38, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

Florence Nightingale, who only received four months of medical training, proved the value of hygiene to improving survival rates. StuRat (talk) 07:45, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

I did not have Nightingale in mind. I think many in Category:Female wartime nurses and Category:Nurses will fall under this category. Laura Crafton Gilpin had formal education in arts, but contributed to another field. --SupernovaExplosion ^Talk 08:15, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

Vivien Thomas, a black man with only a high school education, was a pioneer in heart surgery. (You may notice a theme here, since women and minorities were less likely to receive a full, formal medical education.) StuRat (talk) 07:50, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

The example of Vivien Thomas is amazing. I didn't knew it, thanks for the link. --SupernovaExplosion ^Talk 08:15, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

You're welcome. :-) StuRat (talk) 07:54, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

Louis Pasteur, perhaps. He was a chemist rather than a physician. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 07:56, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

Florence Nightingale educated herself in nursing, not medical, matters. She was not a doctor, but she did have significant influence. (Fixed your Pasteur link Bugs). Richard Avery (talk) 08:05, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

And here less well known contemporary, Mary Seacole. Alansplodge (talk) 22:58, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

Depending on your point of view, Linus Pauling. You may also wish to consider the contribution made by the people who developed the various medical technologies used these days, such as CT or MRI. They don't tend to be doctors. --TammyMoet (talk) 09:06, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

Che Guevara's friend Alberto Granado, a biochemist, founded the Santiago School of Medicine in Cuba. HiLo48 (talk) 09:54, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

Ferdinand Waldo Demara. -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 11:26, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

Demara was a fraud, an imposter, a charlatan, and made no contribution in the field of medicine. --SupernovaExplosion ^Talk 12:17, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

How broadly are you defining 'associated disciplines' and 'medical education'? Doing a quick survey of the last ten Nobel laureates in medicine, only four have medical degrees; the rest are PhDs. Similarly, six of the last ten Nobel prizes in chemistry were awarded for discoveries with direct applications in biology and biochemistry (and that are extensively used to solve problems in medicine). Until you're at the stage of carrying out clinical trials, I strongly suspect that most work done to advance medicine is not carried out by medical doctors. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 16:33, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

Hmm. --SupernovaExplosion ^Talk 06:12, 8 March 2012 (UTC)

Maybe it's a stretch, but Henrietta Lacks is pretty important for her (posthumous?) use in medical research... bibliomaniac15 07:00, 8 March 2012 (UTC)

Elizabeth Kenny is widely credited for her groundbreaking method for treating patients rendered crippled by poliomyelitis, though she she had no formal training as a nurse herself. 70.52.77.66 (talk) 00:31, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

I've no idea of the date associated with when "the current formal medical system was established." Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla advanced the art of X-rays and fluoroscopes. Alexander Bell may have advanced the art of hearing aids and speech training of the deaf. [EEG]] technology was advanced by physiologist Vladimir Pravdich-Neminsky who does not appear to have had a medical degree. Insulin discoverers Banting, Best and McCleod could not develop useful preparations of the chemical without the work of biochemist James Collip. The Electron microscope came from physicist and electrical engineers Leó Szilárd , Ernst Ruska , Max Knoll and Eli Franklin Burton. Paul Winchell, a ventriloquist, developed and patented the first implantable artificial heart, which Dr. Heimlich said was very similar to the later Jarvik artificial heart, In the early days he was at the forefront of development of such devices, and presumably advanced the art, though Dr. Jarvik denied being influenced by Winchell's work. [[Lipoic acid] and one form of Vitamin B₆ were discovered by biochemist Irwin Gunsalus. In general biochemists came up with many useful drugs and chemicals, and physicists and engineers came up with many useful electromechanical and electronic devices. Edison (talk) 01:09, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

Ironic that Edison, being deaf, didn't invent the hearing aid. StuRat (talk) 01:47, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

Edison invented the Carbon microphone, which greatly improved the sound quality of the telephone. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:22, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

As inferred from the Ear trumpet and Hearing aid articles, the capability of making small sized, electronic hearing aids was in the future during Edison's lifetime. However, the shape of the example ear trumpets may be familiar - they are close to the shape of the horns used on early "talking machines", the first one being invented by you-know-who. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:28, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

Sleeve embellishment on the uniform of Dwight D. Eisenhower

On some pictures showing Eisenhower 1945 or later he wears a uniform jacket with two dark stripes on the sleeve of his uniform. They have some similarities to the rank insignia of a naval officer (LTJG). The two stripes are on the forearm a few inches upwards from the cuff, maybe an inch apart, the lower one is roughly twice as wide as the upper one. I assume that there were strict regulations wrt uniforms and that those stripes have some meaning. Rank insignia, decoration...? What is the meaning of those stripes? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.105.120.70 (talk) 13:24, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

I'm actually having trouble finding a clear photograph that depicts the described stripes. (I had a quick run through commons:Category:Dwight Eisenhower and drew a blank; it's amazing how often Ike is hiding his cuffs in photographs.) If you have an online source, it could be very helpful to have a link to it, particularly if it includes information about when and where it was taken.

If the volunteers here at the Ref Desk aren't able to turn up an answer, you might also try asking over at the Military History WikiProject. Their core focus is on writing and improving articles, but if you're polite and patient you can probably turn up someone there who can help you in your search. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 16:15, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

The stripes that I mean are clearly visible on this photograph http://eu.art.com/products/p14009020-sa-i2845859/posters.htm. I'm pretty sure that those are not service stripes. 194.105.120.70 (talk) 05:54, 8 March 2012 (UTC)

A few more examples with date and place: http://images.google.com/hosted/life/46783ba452d0026e.html http://images.google.com/hosted/life/f?imgurl=9b93d510a403a4e8 http://images.google.com/hosted/life/b9df1b6eef9898e9.html http://images.google.com/hosted/life/59c7283582387b0f.html 194.105.120.70 (talk) 12:24, 8 March 2012 (UTC)

Maybe its a Service stripe of some sort indicating length of service? The article says they are for enlisted only, but I wonder if there is something equivilent with a different name for officers? RudolfRed (talk) 16:47, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

The Overseas Service Bar is for wartime service, existed during WWII and is authorized for both officers and enlisted soldiers. See this photo of Eisenhower. Service stripes are only worn by enlisted. Here is another photo of Eisenhower showing the band that goes around the cuff indicating he is an officer. The Army dress green uniform introduced in 1954 originally had a gold band for officers that was later changed to black, while a black stripe was also added to the trousers. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 18:00, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

Identify background song

Resolved

 – Song identified. Ks0stm ^{(T•C•G•E)} 23:59, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

What is the song playing in the background starting 18 seconds into this audio clip and throughout this audio clip. It sounds really familiar but I can't place it, and an email to the radio station got no reply. Thanks in advance, Ks0stm ^{(T•C•G•E)} 23:35, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

It's Lux Aeterna (song), the them from the film Requiem for a Dream. Dominus Vobisdu (talk) 23:47, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

Awesome! That's definitely it. Thanks. Ks0stm ^{(T•C•G•E)} 23:59, 7 March 2012 (UTC)