MMS Annual Oration

The MMS Annual Oration dates back more than 200 years, when in 1804, Dr. Isaac Rand addressed the topic of "On Phthisis Pulmonalis, and the Use of the Warm Bath." The historic purpose of the oration is to inform physicians of issues such as "the histories of epidemics, tables of births and deaths, diaries of the weather, etc."

While the original theme has expanded considerably through the years, the essence of the oration remains to inform Massachusetts physicians of issues pertinent to current medical practice.
The following is a list of orators and their dissertations from 1804 to the present.

YearOrator/Dissertation  
  
1804Isaac Rand 
On Phthisis Pulmonalis, and the Use of the Warm Bath
  
1805John Warren 
On the Mercurial Practice in Febrile Diseases
  
1806Joshua Fisher
On Several Narcotic Vegetable Substances
  
1807Thomas Welsh
On Heat and Cold, as Agents on the Human Body
  
1808John Brooks
On Pneumonic Inflammation
  
1809Aaron Dexter
On the Use of Blisters in Diseases of the Articulations
  
1810Josiah Bartlett
On the Progress of Medical Science in Massachusetts
  
1811 Oliver Fiske
On Certain Epidemics Which Have Prevailed in the County of Worcester
  
1812Abraham Haskell
On Cynanche Trachealis
  
1813Oliver Prescott
On the Natural History and Medicinal Effects of Secale Cornutum, or Ergot
  
1816Richard Hazeltine
On Phlegmasia Dolens
  
1817Hector Orr
On the Properties of Animal and Vegetable Life
  
1818James Jackson
On Fever
  
1820John Collins
Warren  A Comparative View of the Sensorial and Nervous Systems in Man and Animals
  
1821Nathaniel Bradstreet
On the Proximate Cause of Fever
  
1822John Gorham Coffin
On Medical Education, and on the Medical Profession
 
1823Henry Halsey Childs
On the Progress of Medical Science in This State
  
1824Robert Thaxter
On the Excessive Use of Ardent Spirits
  
1826

Joseph Henshaw Flint
On the Prophylactic Management of Infants and Early Childhood

  
1827Nathaniel Miller
On the Manner of Detecting Deep-seated Matter
  
1828George Cheyne Shattuck
On the Uncertainty of the Healing Art
  
1829William Sweetser
A Dissertation on Intemperance
  
1830Rufus Wyman
On Mental Philosophy, as Connected with Mental Diseases
  
1833Walter Channing
On Irritable Uterus
  
1834Zadok Howe
On Quackery
  
1835Jacob Bigelow
On Self-Limited Diseases
  
1836Andrew Nichols
On Irritation of the Nerves
  
1837George Hayward
On Some of the Diseases of the Knee-Joint
  
1838Ebenezer Alden
Historical Sketch of the Origin and Progress of the Massachusetts Medical Society
  
1839Enoch Hale Jr.
On the Typhoid Fever of New England
  
1840Abel Lawrence
Peirson On Fractures
  
1841Edward Reynolds
On the Condition, Prospects and Duties of the Medical Profession
  
1842Stephen West Williams
A Medical History of the County of Franklin in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
  
1843 Charles Woodward
Wilder Pulmonary Consumption - Its Causes, Symptoms and Treatment
  
1844John Homans
The Character and Qualifications of the Good Physician
  
1845William Johnson Walker
The Treatment of Compound and Complicated Fractures
  
1846John Orne Green
The Factory in Its Hygienic Relations
  
1847John Ware
Condition and Prospects of the Medical Profession
  
1848Luther Vose Bell
On the Practical Method of Ventilating Buildings
  
1849Edward Jarvis
On the Production of Vital Force
  
1850

Andrew Mackie
Medical Education

  
1851David Humphreys Storer 
Medical Jurisprudence
  
1852Henry Lyman Sabin 
The Duties, Trials and Pleasures of the Medical Profession
  
1853 John Barnard Swett Jackson 
Morbid Anatomy
  
1854William Workman 
The Progress of Medical Science
  
1855Augustus Addison Gould 
Search Out the Secrets of Nature
  
1856John George Metcalf 
The Study and Practice of Midwifery
  
1857 Marshall Sears Perry 
The Principles and Objects of the Massachusetts Medical Society
  
1858Horatio Adams 
Investigations upon the Subject of Vaccination
  
1859Timothy Childs 
Rational Medicine - Its True Relations to Specialists, to the Partisans of Exclusive Systems, and to Empirics
  
1860 Oliver Wendell Holmes 
Currents and Counter-Currents in Medical Science
  
1861Henry Coit Perkins 
The Duties of the Physician and Surgeon in War
  
1862Henry Ingersoll Bowditch 
Topographical Distribution and Local Origin of Consumption in Massachusetts
  
1863Morrill Wyman
The Reality and Certainty of Medicine
  
1864Jonathan Mason Warren 
Recent Progress in Surgery
  
1865 Benjamin Eddy Cotting  
Disease - A Part of the Plan of Creation
  
1866George Cheyne Shattuck 
The Medical Profession and Society
  
1867Horace Poole Wakefield 
The Duties of the Medical Profession
  
1868 Henry Grafton Clark Medical Jurisprudence
  
1869 Alfred Hitchcock 
Organic and Parallel Relation of Some of the Practical Truths and Errors of Christianity and Medical Science
  
1870William Williamson Wellington 
Modern Medicine - Its Need and Its Tendency
  
1871Henry Jacob Bigelow
Medical Education in America
  
1872Thomas Newcomb Stone 
Watch and Wait
  
1873Charles Edward Buckingham 
The Proper Treatment of Children
  
1874 Nathan Allen 
The Medical Problems of the Day
  
1875George Hinckley Lyman
The Interests of the Public and the Medical Profession
  
1876Pierre LeBreton Stickney 
The Country Doctor - His Place in the Profession
  
1877John Richardson Bronson 
A Review of Medicine - Its Work and Its Worth
  
1878Francis Minot 
Hints in Ethics and Hygiene
  
1879George Waterhouse Garland 
Many Things Remain to Be Done
  
1880Thomas Hovey Gage
The Prevention of the Spread of Typhoid Fever
  
1881John Collins Warren 
Medical Societies - Their Organization and the Nature of Their Work
  
1881 Samuel Abbott Green 
The History of Medicine in Massachusetts: The Centennial Address
  
1882 James Porter Lynde 
Infantile Mortality - Its Causes and Prevention
  
1883Amos Howe Johnson
Nature Guides Best, When Guided
  
1884John Crowell 
The Physician as Popular Educator
  
1885Franklin Kittredge Paddock 
Antiseptic Surgery
  
1886 Richard Manning Hodges 
Undercurrents of Modern Medicine
  
1887George James Townsend 
The Position of the Massachusetts Medical Society - Its Relation to Medical Progress, to the Community in Which We Practise, and to Its Fellows
  
1888 Benjamin Joy Jeffries 
Re-establishment of the Medical Profession
  
1889Henry Pickering Walcott 
State and Preventive Medicine in Massachusetts
  
1890James Clarke White 
The Relations of the Massachusetts Medical Society to Medical Education: a Plea for Professional Independence
  
1891James Bartlett Brewster 
James Thacher, M.D., of Plymouth, Massachusetts
  
1892Frank Winthrop Draper 
The Medical Profession and the Commonwealth
  
1893 John Taylor Gilman Nichols 
The Misuse of Drugs in Modern Medicine
  
1894Reginald Heber Fitz 
The Legislative Control of Medical Practice
  
1895Alfred Worcester 
The Physician's Extra-Professional Duties
  
1896 Henry Pickering Bowditch 
The Advancement of Medicine by Research
  
1897Zabdiel Boylston Adams 
An Epoch of Medicine in an Age of Delusion
  
1898William Thomas Councilman
The Relation of Pathology to Medicine
  
1899Edward Hickling Bradford 
The Expansion of Medicine
  
1900Arthur Tracy Cabot 
Realism in Medicine
  
 1901George Ebenezer Francis 
Medical Prospects
  
 1902 Willard Shepard Everett 
The Present Status of the Practice of Medicine and the Urgent Need of More Stringent Application of Hygiene and Sanitary Laws
  
1903Herbert Leslie Burrell 
Surgical Tuberculosis
  
1904Harold Clarence Ernst 
Some Fermentations in Medical Education
  
1905Charles Aaron Drew 
Some Facts and Fancies about Mind and Body
  
1906John Lewis Hildreth 
The General Practitioner and the Specialist
  
1907John Forster Alleyne Adams 
The Segregation of Consumptives
  
1908Thomas Francis Harrington
The Sanctity of Medicine
  
1909James Gregory Mumford 
The Blood in Surgery - A Historical and Critical Study
  
1910John Cummings Munro 
Indigestion Viewed from a Surgical Standpoint
  
 1911Maurice Howe Richardson 
The Present Position and Value of the Exploratory or Operative Diagnosis
  
 1912Walter Elmore Fernald 
The Burden of Feeble-Mindedness
  
1913 Homer Gage 
Some Abuses of Surgical Practice
  
1914Horace David Arnold 
The Education of the Public in Medical Matters
  
1915 Everett Alanson Bates 
Some Perplexities in Modern Medicine
  
1916 David Linn Edsall 
Movements in Medicine
  
1917Philemon Edwards Truesdale 
Military Medicine
  
1918Myles Standish 
Socialization of the Practice of Medicine
  
1919Samuel Crowell 
The Reflections of a Physician Who Stayed at Home
  
1920Hugh Cabot 
Compulsory Health Insurance, State Medicine or What?
 
1921Francis Wayland Anthony 
Some of the Mutual Relations between the Physician and the Commonwealth
  
1922Benjamin Kendall Emerson 
The International Mind in Medicine
 
1923Roger I. Lee 
The Physical Examination of Apparently Healthy Individuals: Its Importance, Limitations and Opportunities
  
1924James S. Stone 
The Relations of the Massachusetts Medical Society to the Public
1925David Cheever 
The Physician as Custodian of the Health of the People, But Who Shall Guard the Custodian Himself?
  
1926Charles F. Painter 
Educational Requirements for Twentieth Century Practice. Who Should Determine Them, and How May They Best Be Achieved?
  
1927William H. Rose 
Industrial Surgery
  
1928Walter B. Cannon 
The Mechanism of Emotional Disturbance of Bodily Functions
  
1929 George Cheever Shattuck 
The Interdependence of Tropical Medicine and General Medicine
  
1930Henry A. Christian 
The Practitioner's Need of an Intelligent Skepticism
  
1931Harvey Cushing 
150 Years from Tallowdip to Television
  
1932

Samuel B. Woodward 
The Story of Smallpox in Massachusetts

  
1933Channing Frothingham 
The Trend of Medicine in the 20th Century
  
1934 Lincoln Davis 
The Objectives of Medical Progress
  
1935Brace W. Paddock 
Education in Medicine
  
1936Reginald Fitz 
From Cow-Path to State Road
 
1937Joseph W. O'Connor 
The Medical Society and Maternal Mortality
  
1938 Allen G. Rice 
The Passing of Surgical Yeomen
  
1939 Elliott P. Joslin 
The Massachusetts Medical Society and Socialized Medicine
  
1940 William J. Mixter 
Neurological Surgery in Massachusetts
  
1941 A. Warren Stearns 
The Role of the Physician in Competitive Society
  
1942 William B. Castle 
Some Remarks on Therapy for Anemia
  
1943 Edward P. Bagg 
Small Puddles
  
1944 Joseph C. Aub 
Toxic Factors in Traumatic Shock
  
1946 Frank H. Lahey 
Gastric Surgery
  
1947 Leland S. McKittrick 
Medical Care in Our Free Society
  
1948 Allen S. Johnson 
The Responsibility of Medicine in the Propagation of Poor Protoplasm
  
1949 C. Sidney Burwell 
Some Responsibilities of Medical Education
  
1950 John W. O'Meara 
Safe Management of Fractures
  
1951 Donald Munro 
How Specialized Is a Specialty?
  
1952 Joseph Garland 
The New England Journal of Medicine and the Massachusetts Medical Society
  
1953 Sara M. Jordan
Medicine and the Doctor in Word and Epigram
  
1954 Basil E. Barton 
The Appreciation of Medical Politicians
  
1955 Carl Bearse 
The Involuntary Plight of the Voluntary Hospital
  
1956 Merrill C. Sosman 
Docendo Discimus
  
1957 Paul D. White 
Genes, the Heart and Destiny
  
1958 Edward D. Churchill 
Reflections on the Challenge to the Medical Profession in India
  
1959 Henry F. Howe 
Procedures in Consultation and Referral
  
1960 Max Ritvo  
The Role of Diagnostic Roentgenology in the Practice of Medicine
  
1961 Alfred L. Frechette  
The Massachusetts Medical Society and the Organization of Public Health Services
  
1962 Joseph M. Hayman Jr.  
Changing Concepts of Medical Education
  
1963 Charles H. Bradford  
Medical Aims and Ideals
  
1964 John F. Enders  
Thoughts on Future Contributions of Virology to Medicine
  
1965 Francis D. Moore
The Effect of Hemorrhage on Body Composition in Man
  
1966 David P. Boyd  
The Subphrenic Spaces and the Emperor's New Robes
  
1967 John H. Talbott  
At the Bedside
  
1968 Lamar Soutter  
University Control of Education for the Practice of Medicine - Is It a Viable Concept?
  
1969 Franz J. Ingelfinger  
Swinging Copy and Sober Science
  
1970 Dana Farnsworth  
Youth in Protest: Overtones for Medicine
  
1971 Earle M. Chapman
The Physician in a Changing Social Structure
  
1972Joseph E. Murray  
Organ Replacement, Facial Deformity, and Plastic Surgery
  
1973Ephraim Friedman  
The Boston City Hospital
  
1974Donnell W. Boardman  
Dollars and Sense in Medical Care and Health Services: Relation
  
1975Harriet L. Hardy  
Risk and Responsibility, A Physician's Viewpoint
  
1976J. Englebert Dunphy
On Caring for the Patient with Cancer
  
1977 James L. Tullis  
Don't Eat the Quails
  
1978Thomas R. Dawber 
Unproven Hypotheses
  
1979H. Thomas Ballantine  
The Crisis in Ethics, Anno Domini, 1979: A Personal View
  
1980Arnold S. Relman  
The Medical-Industrial Complex
  
1981John J. Byrne  
Lengthening Shadows
  
1982William H. Sweet  
Some Duties of the Medical and Legal Profession
  
1983Charles S. Davidson  
A Peripatetic Heaptologist Returns
  
1984W. V. McDermott  
A Tale of Two Cultures: A Comparative Study of Cancer in East Africa and North America
  
1985Claude E. Welch  
Aesculapius - Can We Learn from His Example?
  
1986Louis Weinstein  
The Great Plagues of the 20th Century: Influenza, Poliomyelitis, Syphilis and AIDS - Their Impact on Society in America
  
1987Mark D. Altschule  
Must Clinical Medicine Be Biodegraded?
  
1988Paul S. Russell
A New Pathway Towards Progress in Clinical Medicine
  
1989 John I. Sandson  
American Medicine and Medical Education: The Best and Worst of Times
  
1990H. Brownell Wheeler  
Healing and Heroism
  
1991Edwin A. Cassem  
Patrick Henry's Second Choice
  
1992Perry J. Culver  
To Test or Not to Test; That Is the Question
  
1993John B. Burke  
Thermal Burns - New Solutions for the Oldest of Injuries
  
1994John D. Stoeckle  
Primary Care, A Look at Its Past and Future
  
1995Grant V. Rodkey  
Quo Vadis Medicina
  
1996Kurt J. Isselbacher  
Genes and Cancer
  
1997Moses Judah Folkman 
Antiangiogenic Therapy
  
1998Paul C. Zamecnik  
Antisense Therapeutics - A New Possibility
  
1999Joseph P. Vacanti  
Clinical Implications of Tissue Engineering
  
2000 Jeffrey M. Drazen 
Bringing a New Asthma Treatment Forward: An Odyssey from Bench to Bedside to Bench to Bedside
  
2001Donald M. Berwick  
Beyond the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report: Strategies to Prevent Harm and Errors
  
2002Roseanna H. Means  
Homelessness and Humanity: Misery and Mission
  
2003Barry M. Manuel  
The Crisis in Professional Liability: There Is a Solution
  
2004Marianne E. Felice  
Eating Disorders of Adolescents: Too Little… Too Much
  
2006Aram V. Chobanian  
Effects of Race/Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Status on Cardiovascular Outcomes
  
2007Aaron Lazare  
Apology in Medical Practice: An Emerging Clinical Skill
   
2009Ezekiel Emanuel  
High-Touch Medicine: The Future of the Physician-Patient Relationship
  
2010Gloria White-Hammond 
Conflict Violence against Women: Moral and Ethical Obligations of Physicians
  
2011Sean Palfrey 
Critical Challenges for 21st Century Medical Practice: Knowledge, Judgment, Time, Cost, and Risk 
  
2012Eugene Lindsey
Working Together: From Guild to Enterprise
  
  

 

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