An experiment in surgical education--the first international exchange of residents. The letters of Halsted, Kuttner, Heuer, and Landois
I. M. Rutkow and K. Hempel
Freehold (NJ) Area Hospital.
Dr William Halsted firmly believed that the young physician achieved
greater surgical maturity by observing the practice of surgery in countries
in addition to his own. To promote this belief, Halsted initiated the
concept of exchanging residents between training programs in different
lands. This article presents a review of that historic first international
exchange of residents. This glimpse into the past is accomplished by
presenting previously unpublished letters of Halsted; Hermann Kuttner,
director of a surgical clinic in Germany; George Heuer, a resident from The
Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore; and Felix Landois, a resident from
Kuttner's clinic.
