- Born: 1742
- Birthplace: Philadelphia, PA
- Died: 1821
Samuel Bard was one of the founders of the first medical college in New York, and was the chief physician of New York's first hospital. He was President George Washington's private doctor, and, after removing a growth on Washington's leg, he was credited with saving the President's life.
Bard received his medical degree from the University of Edinburgh in 1765. While a student there, he won the annual medal for botany. In 1767, having returned to New York, Bard joined his father's medical practice, and, along with ten other doctors, he co-founded King's College, the country's third medical school; it was later incorporated into Columbia University. Bard delivered the commencement address at the first graduation ceremony in 1769. His address, entitled "A discourse upon the duties of a physician, with some sentiments on the usefulness and necessity of a public hospital," was later published as an 18-page pamphlet that served as the nation's first medical ethics book. In 1792, he was appointed dean of the faculty of medicine at Columbia College. Bard also proposed the first hospital for New York, which opened in 1774, with him as chief physician, a post he held for 20 years.
Bard was only 56 years old when he retired from medical practice, but he continued to write. His Compendium of the Theory and Practice of Midwifery was published in 1807, and accepted as the standard reference work on obstetrics in America.
Bard built a house at Hyde Park in 1795, the first to stand on the site of Vanderbilt Mansion. He lived there until his death in 1821 at the age of 79, one day after the death of his wife, Mary. They are buried in a single grave.
Most Famous Works
- A Compendium of the Theory and Practice of Midwifery (1808)
