Doctor's dilemma!

Which one does your doctor wear?

This Post is based on an article by Donald McNeil, Jr., which recently appeared in the Health Section of the New York Times.

Unbeknownst to most patients and even to very many physicians, there is a controversy about which of the above symbols is proper for the healing profession to use as its icon. The history behind this actually reaches back to Moses, to the time when he was instructed by God to mount a brass serpent on a pole to nullify the ravages of the “fiery serpents” that were ferociously attacking the Israelites while they were stranded in what is now the Negev.

Centuries later, Greek mythology relates that Asclepius, a half mortal, learned how to heal the dead from having watched a snake he had just killed with his staff, being revived by another snake that crammed herbs into its mouth. Using the same herbs, Asclepius resurrected a man who had just been killed by one of Zeus’s thunderbolts. Angered by this half-mortal's indefensible intervention, Zeus swiftly hurled a thunderbolt at Asclepius. But he then relented. He revived him and made him the god of medicine. Asclepius's staff, with the single serpent entwined around it, was divinely accepted as the symbol of healing.

The Caduceus, a rod entwined by two snakes, was a wand used by the infamous Hermes (whom the Romans called Mercury). Although he was the god of commerce, he mainly functioned as the god of thieves. Indeed, Hermes even engaged in the nefarious practice of transporting the souls of the dead to the underworld. Clearly, the Caduceus had no credentials as an icon for healing. But it came to be used as such in the 19th century, when a U.S. Army Surgeon, evidently ungrounded in classical history, lobbied successfully to have that symbol adopted as a badge for Army doctors. He had become fascinated by how it was used as a bookmark, by a British publisher of medical textbooks.

Back in WW II, like all the other medical officers, I wore the Caduceus on my military uniform. Even now, previously unaware of the above, I have it proudly pinned to my favorite winter hat. On the other hand (at least my instincts were correct) I have always used the Asclepius as the medical icon on my professional letterheads. Interestingly, the U.S. Air Force, having ultimately become apprised of the historical mixup, now uses the Asclepius as its medical symbol.