Dublin Core
Title
Louis J. Hirschman, M.D. (1878-1965) Biography
Subject
State hospitals--United States
Physician
Biography
Description
Typewritten biography for Dr. Louis Hirschman outlining Hirschman's personal life and professional career as a physician.
Creator
Unknown
Date
1965
Rights
This document may be protected by copyright law. Contact the Traverse Area District Library for permission to reproduce, display or transmit this image.
Format
PDF
Language
English
Identifier
2025.16.09
PDF Text
Text
~
LOUIS J. HIRSCHMAN, M.D.
1878 - 1965
Dr. Louis Hirschman was the son of a physician whose career was
interrupted early by premature death at the age of thirty-eight. The untimely
death of the father, I suspect, had a marked impact on the character and
development of the eldest son, Louis, who followed his father in the practice
of medicine.
Dr. Louis Hirschman had, above all, an overwhelming love for his
profession, an affection for all doctors since they worked for a "common
cause, and a fondness for serving sick patients. Accordingly, he worked
hard and he spent as much time as possible with his colleagues at hospitals
and scientific meetings. Outside of his family, his work was his whole life.
With motivation of this magnitude, with the high degree of in tell igence he possessed, with his capacity for teaching and his unusual flair for
public speaking, great contributions were assured, provided he had what his
father was denied - time. Fortunately, Louis Hirschman was blessed with this
in abundance, for his active professional career covered a period of more
than fifty years.
Dr. Hirschman became a member of a great many medical and civic
organizations. He was active in nearly all, and he became president of most.
He was a founder Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and the first
Detroit surgeon to be given Honorary Membership in the Royal Society of
Medicine. He was president of our county and state medical societies and
vice president of the American Medical Association. I have mentioned only
a few out of many honors and positions he held, since it was Dr. Hirschman's
expressed wish that this service be frief and modest.
However, I believe he would be pleased if I described briefly his
greatest contribution to medicine and, in addition, I would like to mention
what I consider his finest characteristic as a physician.
Dr. Hirschman was a Proctologist, a surgeon who limits his work to
diseases of the rectum and colon. His greatest contribution was the establishment of this specialty in Detroit and the major role he played in its
development throughout the country.
In the early days of his practice, Dr. Hirschman found that patients
afflicted with rectal diseases were treated so inadequately th-at; relief was
the exception, and as a result many patients turned in vain to 'quacks' and
charlatans for help. He decided to devote some attention to the problem and
he soon developed new instruments, new methods of examination and new modes
of treatment. Success came so quickly that he soon decided to limit his
work to Proctology.
He established a Department of Proctology kat Harper Hospital in
1906 and two years later, a similar department with a t,t4ching program at
our medica1 school. This was only seven years after he, himself, had
graduated. He directed these two servi~es for over thirty years. In 1909,
he published a textbook on Proctology and it became tlfid~ used and went
through many editions.
Turning to the national scene, Dr. Hirschman discovered that a
small group of surgeons, like himself interested in Proctology, had formed
a society called the American Proctologic Society. He joined it in 1906,
only seven years after its formation, and he became its president in 1912.
He supported it vigorously throughout the years and he saw it develop into
a large organization which now dominates the specialty in this country.
Dr. Hirschman played a leading role in the formation of the Section
of Proctology of the American Medical Association in 1917, and he was its
first secretary. The Section is the means by which the specialty is now
represented in the American Medical Association.
He also helped organize the American Board of Proctology, an
agency which examines and certifies all Proctologists. He was its first
president and the Board granted him the first certificate ever issued to
anyone in this country.
These agencies and organizations which I have just mentioned, all
either started or developed under his strong influence,_.. constitute all
the important agencies regulating Proctology in this country today.
There can be no doubt, then, of Dr. Hirschman's enonnous influence
in the establishment of the specialty which was so dear to him~ That his
influence continues even now is indicated simply by the fact that the
current President and the President Elect of the American Proctologic
Society, the present Secretary of the Section on Proctology in the American
Medical Association, and two of the ten members of the certifying Board are
all men trained by him.
Dr. Hirschman's outstanding characteristic as a physician, I think,
was the quality which so endeared him to his patients. He had the human
approach to the care of the sick; he never was indifferent; he always was
interested; and he constantly exhibited an attitude of hope and cheerfulness
when dealing with patients. All these things invariably made his patients
feel better. He realized, better than anyone I have ever known, that it is
the total human situation which must be considered in the care of the sick
patient; that the disease itself, while of great importance, still is but a
part of the whole problem. So by strong example, he taught us that sci~~ce
is not enough for the practice of good medicine.
This, then, is the measure of the man, who though he has passed
away, and though we shall miss him personally, yet he lives and works
through those whom he has trained to carry out, as he did, the work of
the great physician.
LOUIS J. HIRSCHMAN, M.D.
1878 - 1965
Dr. Louis Hirschman was the son of a physician whose career was
interrupted early by premature death at the age of thirty-eight. The untimely
death of the father, I suspect, had a marked impact on the character and
development of the eldest son, Louis, who followed his father in the practice
of medicine.
Dr. Louis Hirschman had, above all, an overwhelming love for his
profession, an affection for all doctors since they worked for a "common
cause, and a fondness for serving sick patients. Accordingly, he worked
hard and he spent as much time as possible with his colleagues at hospitals
and scientific meetings. Outside of his family, his work was his whole life.
With motivation of this magnitude, with the high degree of in tell igence he possessed, with his capacity for teaching and his unusual flair for
public speaking, great contributions were assured, provided he had what his
father was denied - time. Fortunately, Louis Hirschman was blessed with this
in abundance, for his active professional career covered a period of more
than fifty years.
Dr. Hirschman became a member of a great many medical and civic
organizations. He was active in nearly all, and he became president of most.
He was a founder Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and the first
Detroit surgeon to be given Honorary Membership in the Royal Society of
Medicine. He was president of our county and state medical societies and
vice president of the American Medical Association. I have mentioned only
a few out of many honors and positions he held, since it was Dr. Hirschman's
expressed wish that this service be frief and modest.
However, I believe he would be pleased if I described briefly his
greatest contribution to medicine and, in addition, I would like to mention
what I consider his finest characteristic as a physician.
Dr. Hirschman was a Proctologist, a surgeon who limits his work to
diseases of the rectum and colon. His greatest contribution was the establishment of this specialty in Detroit and the major role he played in its
development throughout the country.
In the early days of his practice, Dr. Hirschman found that patients
afflicted with rectal diseases were treated so inadequately th-at; relief was
the exception, and as a result many patients turned in vain to 'quacks' and
charlatans for help. He decided to devote some attention to the problem and
he soon developed new instruments, new methods of examination and new modes
of treatment. Success came so quickly that he soon decided to limit his
work to Proctology.
He established a Department of Proctology kat Harper Hospital in
1906 and two years later, a similar department with a t,t4ching program at
our medica1 school. This was only seven years after he, himself, had
graduated. He directed these two servi~es for over thirty years. In 1909,
he published a textbook on Proctology and it became tlfid~ used and went
through many editions.
Turning to the national scene, Dr. Hirschman discovered that a
small group of surgeons, like himself interested in Proctology, had formed
a society called the American Proctologic Society. He joined it in 1906,
only seven years after its formation, and he became its president in 1912.
He supported it vigorously throughout the years and he saw it develop into
a large organization which now dominates the specialty in this country.
Dr. Hirschman played a leading role in the formation of the Section
of Proctology of the American Medical Association in 1917, and he was its
first secretary. The Section is the means by which the specialty is now
represented in the American Medical Association.
He also helped organize the American Board of Proctology, an
agency which examines and certifies all Proctologists. He was its first
president and the Board granted him the first certificate ever issued to
anyone in this country.
These agencies and organizations which I have just mentioned, all
either started or developed under his strong influence,_.. constitute all
the important agencies regulating Proctology in this country today.
There can be no doubt, then, of Dr. Hirschman's enonnous influence
in the establishment of the specialty which was so dear to him~ That his
influence continues even now is indicated simply by the fact that the
current President and the President Elect of the American Proctologic
Society, the present Secretary of the Section on Proctology in the American
Medical Association, and two of the ten members of the certifying Board are
all men trained by him.
Dr. Hirschman's outstanding characteristic as a physician, I think,
was the quality which so endeared him to his patients. He had the human
approach to the care of the sick; he never was indifferent; he always was
interested; and he constantly exhibited an attitude of hope and cheerfulness
when dealing with patients. All these things invariably made his patients
feel better. He realized, better than anyone I have ever known, that it is
the total human situation which must be considered in the care of the sick
patient; that the disease itself, while of great importance, still is but a
part of the whole problem. So by strong example, he taught us that sci~~ce
is not enough for the practice of good medicine.
This, then, is the measure of the man, who though he has passed
away, and though we shall miss him personally, yet he lives and works
through those whom he has trained to carry out, as he did, the work of
the great physician.
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