We Have a Winner!: The 2018 History of the Health Sciences Essay Award

On March 29, the winner of the Danny Jones History of the Health Sciences Essay Award, Farhan Ahmad, was presented with a check by Senior Director of Libraries Owen Ellard. Farhan won the 2018 competition with his essay, Knee History: From Early Developments to the Total Knee Replacement. The annual $500 award is sponsored by the Friends of the P.I Nixon Medical Historical Library.

Farhan will be giving a presentation on his essay on April 24 at 3:30 p.m. on the 5th floor of the Briscoe Library. The presentation will cap off activities during the UT Health Library Student Fiesta and will lead into the P.I. Nixon Library Fiesta Open House also happening on the 24th.

Farhan is a first year medical student at the Long School of Medicine, and is interested in pursuing a career in Orthopaedic Surgery. He graduated from UTSA’s Honors College in the FAME B.S./M.D. program. His essay topic is a historical review of advancements in knee care from major time points in recorded human history.

“The knee,” Farhan explains, “when diseased or broken, is like any part of the body in that it tells a story. However, there is scarce documentation of medical history regarding knee injuries and developments. I found that many advancements in knee care (both operative and non-operative) contributed to and came from general advancements in the history of medicine. Some advancements were helpful to the patient while others may not have been. Ultimately, in every civilization across time, the knee was a universal concern and human curiosity pushed forth new ideas, which I aimed to capture in my essay. As the rates of knee osteoarthritis continue to increase in the U.S., my paper is a timely meditation on the progress we have made so far, as well as a reminder that there is much to discover.”

Article Categories: Announcements, Event Announcement, History of Medicine, News from the Libraries, Treasures of the P.I. Nixon