James Mc Clurg - Medical Career

Medical Career

Dr. McClurg was one of the most distinguished physicians in the colonies, educated (and later professor) at the College of William and Mary. Dr. McClurg received a medical degree from the University of Edinburgh and also studied in London and Paris. Dr. McClurg practiced first in Williamsburg, then in Richmond. His work and writings were well-received and respected by the medical community on both sides of the Atlantic. His Experiments upon the Human Bile and Reflections on the Biliary Secretions (London: 1772), was translated into several languages.

Dr. McClurg returned to Virginia in 1773, was appointed professor of anatomy and medicine at his alma mater in 1779, and also served as a surgeon in the state navy. Dr. McClurg achieved renown in Richmond for his efforts to stop various epidemics, including the yellow fever in 1798. However, his contagious disease focus later brought criticism in connection with the botched toxicological work in the celebrated trial concerning the murder of Judge George Wythe, whom he initially thought suffered from cholera, not arsenic poisoning. Dr. McClurg was also the first honoree of the Philadelphia Journal of Medical and Physical Sciences. In 1820 and 1821 Dr. McClurg was president of Virginia's state medical society.


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