The Greatest Surgeon in History Was Terribly Mistaken

Galen was a critically essential but all-needed case study.

For 1400 years, Galen was considered the greatest doctor to ever live.

He created new procedures, including critical basics like using our pulse to measure illness. He refuted and disproved a long list of laughably erroneous medical ideas.

Yet it was his broader system-wide impact medicine for which he was most remembered.

But he also became a victim of his own methods. His story contains an important lesson we can learn from.

In the 2nd century, medical professionals weren’t allowed to dissect cadavers. It was taboo and illegal, as it “violated the divine sanctity of the human body”.

And even worse, doctors had very little knowledge to work from. It wasn’t like doctors could stroll down to a library and get a copy of an anatomy textbook.

Galen found a convenient way around this.

He began studying medicine at 15, apprenticing under several professors throughout Europe. He came to Rome at 28 to serve as an official doctor to the gladiators:

Galen didn’t end up at the Coliseum by accident or because he had a passion for gladiatorial combat. He knew this was one of the few places he’d get revealing access to the human body.

If you’d been a gladiator in your past life, you’d have wanted Galen to treat your injuries. He believed in actual science rather than spiritual and superstitious methods.

Under his care, only 8 gladiators died in four years while his predecessor lost 60. Galen studied the famous physician Hippocrates (whom the Hippocratic oath — “do no harm to patients” —…

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