Preventive Medicine Awards: Gorgas Medal Joel M. Dalrymple Award

Veterinary Medicine Awards: James A. McCallam Award

Essay Awards: AMSUS Sir Henry Wellcome Medal and Prize Federal Nursing Services Award AMSUS History of Military Medicine Essay

Award

The non-competitive awards are: Joel T. Boone Award Founder’s Medal Richard A. Kern Lecture Award William C. Porter Lecture Award

Sustaining Membership Lecture Award1

Sir Henry Solomon Wellcome was born in 1853 and worked throughout his life in medical research.2 He attended the Chicago College of Pharmacy and the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, where he graduated at the age of 20. He began research on indigenous plant remedies, which took him to England in 1880. He founded the Wellcome Physiological Research Laboratories in 1894 for the manufacture of diphtheria antitoxin. The Wellcome Chemical Research Laboratories were established in 1896 and the Wellcome Tropical Research Laboratories at Khartoum, Egypt were established to develop a remedy for malaria and for the study of tropical diseases. In 1913, the Wellcome Bureau of Scientific Research was established in London for the study of tropical diseases. This bureau was used to train medical officers during World War I in tropical medicine. In 1924 all his interests were merged in The Wellcome Foundation Ltd. Wellcome, who adopted British nationality in 1910, was knighted in 19323 and elected a Fellow of The Royal Society and honorary Fellow of The Royal College of Surgeons of England. He died in 1936 and he left all of his shares to five trustees, The Wellcome Trust, who were directed to apply the distributed profits of his companies to the advancement, throughout the world, of research in medicine and allied sciences, as the establishment of research museums and libraries. His contributions to medicine and his extensive research foundations are why he was chosen to have an award named after him. The Sir Henry Wellcome award was first offered in 1916 by the late Sir Henry Wellcome, and was accepted as an award by the Association. Originally the medal was gold, but was changed to a silver medal and prize of $500. Since this medal is only awarded once a year, there have been 92 awarded and would make this a rare medal.

The submission rules for the award are:

1. Submissions for the AMSUS Sir Henry Wellcome Medal and Prize must contain a reproducible copy of the nominated article. The nomination letter should contain the name of the journal in which the article appeared with the volume and issue date. The letter should include a paragraph stating why the article should be considered for the AMSUS Sir Henry Wellcome Medal and Prize. If the article was published

in a Journal other than Military Medicine, the letter should contain a statement certifying that is was published in a peer-reviewed, professional journal.

2. A short biographical sketch with the author’s

name, rank (if applicable), service, address, social security number, and work telephone number should be included on a separate sheet of paper. If the author is not a current AMSUS member, eligibility for membership should be documented.

3. The author of the winning article will be notified by mail during the month of August.

4. No person shall be eligible for a second award.

5. All articles must be original. In the case of multiple authors, the award will be presented to the principal author only.

6. Articles for consideration must have been published in the previous calendar year."

Figure 2: Obverse of the Sir Henry Wellcome Medal

The Sir Henry Wellcome Medal is circular in design measuring 45 mm in diameter and 4 mm thick (Figure 2). The medal is silver in color, and on the obverse are the heads of Machaon and Podaleirios (Poladarius),4 Homer’s "two famed surgeons" of the Greek army in

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the Trojan War. Sons of Asclepius (Asklepios)5 the

Greek god of medicine, they,, were reared by Cheiron "sire of pharmacy." In the expedition against Troy they

allied themselves with Menelaos, and furnished and

commanded thirty sail. As surgeons to the army they

healed the wounded, among them Menelaos when he

was struck by an arrow from Pandaros. Machaon, first

wounded by Paris, was eventually killed by Eurypylos.

His bones were returned to Gerenia (the ancient town of Messenia) and became invested with healing powers. As

late as 200AD Pausanius recorded that Machaon’s tomb

was situated in a sacred place, Rhodus, where the sick

could be made whole. Podaleirios, on returning from the

war, was shipwrecked on the coast of Caria. He cured

the king’s daughter of the "falling sickness" and later

married her, thereafter remaining in Caria for the rest of

his life. Both men were among those who hid inside the

wooden horse.6

(Figure 3). The medal is engraved on the edge with the name, rank, branch of service and date of the award. (Figure 4). In this case it reads LTC Osenr M. Jnrdon, USAFR, MC- 1981.

Figure 3: Reverse of the Sir Henry Wellcome Medal

On the medal Machaon wears a helmet with long appendages referred to as the Trojan War helmet.7 The headgear of Podaleirios is the theristrion, which is often associated with physicians in ancient Greek art, and is depicted on some representations of the head of Asklepios. According to Homer, Machaon played the more important role, while Quintas describes him as the elder of the brothers. For these reasons he is assigned the chief place on the medal. Both brothers, in addition to being skilled surgeons, were valiant warriors. Together they cared for the wounded, and in battle fought side by side? The reverse of the medal bears a representation of the seal of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States and the inscription: ASSOCIATION OF MILITARY SURGEONS OF THE UNITED STATES

Figure 4: Naming on the Sir Henry Wellcome Medal

Figure 5: Presentation case for the Sir

Henry Wellcome Medal

The presentation case is green in color and has the two brothers on the cover (Figure 5). The case measures 113 mm wide by 113 mm deep by 25 mm high. The medal is inset in black felt (Figure 6). The medal also came with a small booklet which is green in color and has the two brothers on the cover (Figure 7.) It measures 73mm by 72mm by 6ram thick. It contains information on the medal and its purpose, information on Sir Henry Wellcome and the design of the medal. It has 14 pages and was printed in England.

30 JOMSA

completed an internship at Clarkson Hospital and served four years in the Army. He operated a family practice in Loop City, Nebraska, before returning to UNMC for an orthopedic residency. He joined the Air Force Reserve, eventually reaching the rank of Brigadier General.

Figure 6: Opened presentation case for the

Sir Henry S. Wellcome Medal.

Figure 7: Small green booklet the accompanies

the Sir Henry S. Wellcome Medal.

Oscar M. Jardon MD won the Sir Henry S. Wellcome Medal in 1981 for his article "Physiologic Stress, Heat Stroke, Malignant Hyperthermia-A Perspective." Oscar M. Jardon was born in Long Island, Kansas on December 23, 1931 (Figure 8). He graduated from Nebraska State College at Kearney in 1952 and from University of Nebraska’s College of Medicine (UNMC) in 1957. He

Figure 8: Oscar M. Jardon, M.D.

Dr. Jardonjoined the UNMC orthopedic faculty and later served as acting chairman of the department. He focused on adult reconstructive surgery and trauma management. His research interests were in biologically fixed endoprosthetics, heat stress, and malignant hyperthermia. Dr. Jardon retired from the Air Force in 1993 and from UNMC in 1996, achieving professor emeritus status. He died August 23, 2004 and is buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery section 40, site 750.9

Endnotes: 1. The Association of Military Surgeons web site: www.amsus.org 2. www.waymaking.com/gallery/image.

aspx?f= 1 &guid=f09f5b91-4893-40fl-8a3b-3c... 3. www.rootsweb.com/wiwausha/highway.html;www.findarticles.

com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_20021124/ai_n 10843478 4. www.sculpturegallery.corn/sculpture/asclepios 5. www.pantheon.org/areas/mythology/europe/greek/articles 6. www.homepage.mac.com/cparade/gml/achaeanleaders 7. www.find-it armory 8. small book with medal 9. University of Nebraska Medical College.

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