Reflections on the Origins of Radiotherapy
15 Oct 2018
Radiotherapy did not arise in a vacuum. Doctors were well used to using electricity in the treatment of diseases and the new rays of Professor Röntgen were soon added to the repertoire of hospital electrical departments. This webinar will review the therapeutic use of electricity in the 19th Century and will consider some of the early practitioners, including John Macintyre in Glasgow, Dawson Turner in Edinburgh and Sebastian Gilbert Scott of London. Both diagnostic and therapeutic radiology were practiced by the pioneers, and it was only when Sebastian Gilbert Scott retired in 1920 that a dedicated radiotherapist was appointed to the Royal London Hospital. The practice of radiotherapy had reached a considerably degree of sophistication by the 1930s, and was starting to be placed on a scientific basis.
Duration:61 mins
Speaker info
Dr Adrian Thomas
Dr Adrian Thomas has been fascinated by the history of radiology since he was a registrar at Hammersmith Hospital. Adrian is a radiologist, and visiting professor at Canterbury Christ Church University. He has been President of the Radiology Section of the Royal Society of Medicine, and of the British Society for the History of Medicine. He is the Honorary Historian to the British Institute of Radiology. Adrian has written extensively on the history of radiology writing many papers, books and articles. He is currently, with a colleague, writing a biography of the first woman radiologist and woman hospital physicist. He has had a long-term interest in role development in radiography, and teaches postgraduate radiographers.