Madhusudan Gupta was the first doctor of modern medical science.
The coincidence of the birth anniversary and National Doctor’s Day of Dr. Vidhanchandra Rai, former Chief Minister of West Bengal and well-known doctor, is amazing. This day is celebrated every year on July 1 in India to honor the services of modern doctors. Although the roots of Indian medical science are very deep, but who was the first doctor of India in modern times and how did he bring revolution in the field of medicine? This question will be flashed in everyone’s mind. Let’s try to find the answer to this question.
All the ancient civilizations of the world have their own medical system but India’s ancient system of medicines is considered to be the most systematic. The history of medical science in India is found from 1500 East to 1500 East. In the Vedic period, the four Vedas, their Brahmins, Aranyak and Upanishads are full of it. In Atharva Vedas, information about many parts of the body is found. In the Vedic period itself, Indian medical science became more organized and all the information of Indian medicines is contained in Ayurveda.
The doctors of Ayurveda were called Vaidya. By the way, most historians for Ayurveda mention two books written in Sanskrit, one is Charaka Samhita and the other is Sushruta Samhita. Of these, the author of Charaka Samhita and the well-known Vaidya (doctor) of his time were the courtiers of King Kanishka. At the same time, another ancient Indian doctor Sushruta gave the world a medical science book like Sushruta Samhita.
Dr. Madhusudan Gupta was the first Indian doctor
Madhusudan Gupta was the first doctor of modern medical science. He was born in 1800 in a well-known Vaidya family in Hooghly district of West Bengal. His grandfather was a family doctor of Hooghly’s Nawab. In December 1826, Dr. Madhusudan took admission in new open Ayurvedic courses in Sanskrit College. He showed unprecedented talent in his studies. In May 1830, he was made a teacher there.
First Indian teacher in the first medical college of Western method
In the time of India’s first Governor General Lord William Ventink, a new beginning of medical education in Calcutta took place on 28 January 1835 and the foundation of Calcutta Medical College was laid for the study of Western education system. On 17 March 1835, Madhusudan Gupta was appointed as a local teacher in this college. For the next four years, 50 people aged 14 to 20 years got an opportunity to study in this new medical college.
When Calcutta Medical College started, Dr. Madhusudan was appointed as a teacher.
Madhusudan Gupta did the first dissection in Asia
This is a matter of era when the ripping of human body was prohibited in Hindus. At the same time, surgery was an important place in Western medical system. In such a situation, with the help of Dwarkanath Tagore and Raja Ram Mohan Rai, the Calcutta Medical College decided to prepare people for surgery. It was decided that if there is mention of surgery in Indian traditional literature, then it will be carried forward. Madhusudan Gupta was given the responsibility of finding it.
After this, on 10 January 1836, Madhusudan Gupta did cadveric dispens for the first time. This was not only India, but all over Asia. This achievement was given a 50 gun salute at the Outpost Fort William in Calcutta (now Kolkata) of the British and thus Western medical practice started in India.
Anandibai Joshi was the first female doctor in the country
If Dr. Madhusudan Gupta was the first doctor in the country, Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi was the first female doctor in the country. She was the first Indian woman to study Western medical practice from America. He encouraged many women in India and America to adopt this field. After birth, Anandibai was named Yamuna, but the new name was given to her by her husband Gopalrao Joshi, whom she was married to only nine years of age.
However, Gopalrao was rich in progressive thinking and sent his wife to a missionary school to study. Later, he moved to Calcutta with him, where Anandibai learned Sanskrit and English.
Anandibai completed his MD from Women’s Medical College in Pennsylvania, USA.
Completed MD studies
In the 1800s it was also difficult for someone to think that he would teach his wife, then Gopalrao decided that he would send his wife to America for medicine. He also did this. However, at the same time, Anandibai’s health started deteriorating, but Gopalrao asked her to go to America and become an example for other women of the country.
In the US, Anandibai enrolled in the Women’s Medical College in Pennsylvania and completed his two -year medicine at the age of 19. In the year 1886, he earned MD degree. However, Dr. Anandibai never got a chance to practice medical, as he died on 26 February 1887 at a very young age on 26 February 1887 due to a disease like TB.
Kadambini Ganguly got education in India
Many times Kadambini Ganguly is named as the first female doctor in the country. However, it is not so. Kadambini Ganguly was the first female doctor in the country to get education in the country itself and also treated people. At the same time, Anandibai Joshi was the first female doctor of the country and the first Indian woman to study in medical from abroad.
Also read: Which country in the world most Indian doctors? Chinese-Pak left behind