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- Title
Aid to Spain, Blood for Britain. Janet Vaughan, her Humanitarian and Medical Work 1936-1945, and her Legacy to British Medicine.
- Authors
Pearson, Joanna
- Abstract
Janet Vaughan, a haematologist by training, had an eclectic career involving not only clinical and research work as a scientist and doctor but also humanitarian work for the Spanish Medical Aid Committee (part of the Spanish Civil War aid effort). Through this she learned of new developments in blood transfusion, which informed the setting up of the Emergency Blood Transfusion Service in London and the Home Counties, in 1939. With a strong conscience for the health and wellbeing of ordinary people and recognition, reinforced by experience, that doctors need a holistic approach to meet patients' needs, she strove to improve "social medicine" and medical education in Britain. She stated that; "it wasn't really from an interest in medicine itself that I went into science…. I was very much concerned about social problems and the state of the world… and it seemed to me that medicine was a good way to get involved in real social problems". [1] I will examine her background, showing how earlier influences and experiences impacted on her work. Focussing on her work between 1936 and 1945, I will discuss how and if she achieved these aims and her legacy for British Medicine.
- Subjects
BLOOD transfusion; VAUGHAN, Janet; CIVIL war; MEDICAL education; SOCIAL medicine
- Publication
Vesalius: Acta Internationales Historiae Medicinae, 2018, Vol 24, Issue 1, p19
- ISSN
1373-4857
- Publication type
Article