Celebrate National Doctors’ Day Every March 30
Do you appreciate your doctor? You probably do if you have one (or more!) who listens to your concerns and takes the time to explain things so you can understand them.
National Doctor’s Day is the day to remember and thank the doctors who help keep you well and treat your illnesses.
Of course, you’re probably not going to see your doctor today, but if you are then make a special effort to thank him or her.
And the rest of us can make a mental note to share our appreciation at our next appointment.
We should note that this is a United States holiday.
India also has a Doctor’s Day, celebrated on July 1. It honors Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, who was born on July 1, 1882 and died on July 1, 1962. Other countries also celebrate doctors on various dates.
National Doctors’ Day Started Back in 1933
It wasn’t an official day back then. But Eudora Brown Almond felt that doctors like her husband, Dr. Charles B. Almond, deserved thanks and recognition.
The Barrow County Medical Society Auxiliary (in Georgia) agreed. It celebrated this first Doctors’ Day by mailing cards to doctors and remembering deceased doctors with flowers on their graves.
Some of the wives of local doctors also put together a lunch for all the doctors.
The March 30 date is the anniversary of the day in 1842 when Dr. Crawford Long anesthetized a patient with ether to remove cysts from his neck. This is considered the first time modern anesthesia was used for surgery.
(Technically a medical student (William Clark) had used it in January 1842 for a tooth extraction. But he didn’t publish the event, or even consider it noteworthy. So Dr. Long gets the credit).
In 1990 then-President George H.W. Bush signed a resolution to create a National Doctors’ Day. The first official National Doctors’ Day took place the following year, on March 30, 1991.
Hallmark introduced cards for National Doctors’ Day in 2003. Today there are also ecards for Doctors’ Day.
Scroll down for some ideas on celebrating this official but neglected holiday.
Ideas to Celebrate National Doctors’ Day
As mentioned, if you’ll be seeing your doctor today, remember to thank him or her.
If not, consider sending a thank you note or greeting card.
Honor a deceased physician by putting a red carnation (the symbolic flower for this day) on his or her grave.
Companies with doctors on staff might consider holding a celebration of thanks. Or at least send a company-wide email recognizing their doctors’ contributions to their employees’ well-being.
[…] National Doctors’ Day: On this very timely day, thank the doctors working hard to keep us all healthy. And of course especially to help us get well again when we’re not. […]