Cache B - The Treves Trail

Education DCH 175 Treves Trail

You are standing close to St. Peter’s Church, where Frederick Treves was christened.

Early Educa:on Treves was educated at The Merchant Taylors' School, one of the nine original public schools as defined by the 1868 Act, founded in 1561 by the Merchant Taylors' company.

In 1871, Treves leJ to begin the study of medicine and it was the prac:cal aspects of medicine which par:cularly appealed to Treves.

Treves acquired his medical educa:on at the London Hospital, which offered its students ample opportuni:es for clinical observa:on. On its staff were men of scien:fic dis:nc:on, such as Neurologist John Hughlings.

In 1875 he qualified as a member of the Royal College of Surgeons and in the previous year he had become a licen:ate of the Society of Apothecaries.

AJer holding a house surgeonship at the London Hospital, in 1876 he became resident medical officer at the Royal Na:onal Hospital for Scrofula (later the Royal Sea Bathing Hospital) at Margate, to which his brother William was honorary surgeon.

Scrofula became the subject of his first research.

A Blossoming Career Treves con:nued to study and in 1878 he passed the examina:ons for the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons. In the following year he gave up prac:ce in Derbyshire and returned to the London Hospital in order to fill the post of Surgical Registrar. Later that year a vacancy occurred on the surgical staff of the hospital and in September 1879 he was appointed assistant surgeon, before becoming a full surgeon in 1884 at just thirty-one years old!

He became a House Surgeon in 1876 (the senior member of the surgical house staff responsible for the execu:on of the orders of the a`ending surgeon, and who also subs:tutes when the a`ending surgeon is not present). For much of the rest of his career, Treves was associated with London hospital and by 1898 he was appointed Consul:ng Surgeon.

In the Medical School a`ached to the London Hospital he was Demonstrator of Prac:cal Anatomy, Lecturer in Anatomy, Teacher of Opera:ve Surgery and Lecturer on Surgery. He became known rapidly for his careful work, being fortunate enough to work at a :me when Lister's teaching had allowed an increase in the number of abdominal surgery taking place.

No. 34 now No. 6 Wimpole Street) from 1886 (or 1887) to 1907.

Images courtesy of Luca Borghi for Himetop - The History of Medicine Topographical Database.

Treves gave many more lectures and published books throughout his career. In 1883, he was awarded the Jacksonian Prize for his disserta:on en:tled ‘The Pathology, Diagnosis and Treatment of Obstruc:on of the Intes:ne in its Various Forms in the Abdominal Cavity’.

He was a successful abdominal surgeon, working with the development of both anaesthe:cs and an:sep:c methods.

Treves re:red at 45 years of age from the London Hospital to prac:se privately. This shows just how successful Treves was because you had to be extremely good, respected, and well paid to be able to do this.

Modern Day Treves prepared as a surgeon by prac:sing dissec:on of corpses and oJen demonstrated prac:cal anatomy to students. Now doctors and nurses are trained in anatomy and procedures using models, mul:-media and simula:ons of the human body.

Invasive surgery has been replaced in many cases by methods which minimise the incision and use micro-instruments.

Proac:ve screening and MRI scanners reduce the need for inves:ga:ve surgery as well as saving lives through early diagnosis and treatment.