Gross, Samuel David, 1805–84, American surgeon, b. near Easton, Pa., M.D. Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, 1828. He taught at the medical colleges of several universities and at Jefferson from 1856. He made outstanding contributions to his profession as teacher of pathological anatomy and surgery; as inventor of surgical instruments and techniques; as author of Elements of Pathological Anatomy (1839), A System of Surgery (1859), and other works; and as a founder of the American Medical Association.

Bibliography

See his autobiography (1887).

Gross, Samuel David

(born July 8, 1805, Easton, Pa., U.S.—died May 6, 1884, Philadelphia) U.S. surgeon, teacher of medicine, and author. He was apprenticed to a local country doctor before receiving formal medical training. His most celebrated work, Elements of Pathological Anatomy (1839), was a pioneering effort that organized knowledge on the subject in English, and his System of Surgery (2 vol., 1859) had a profound effect on surgical thought worldwide. His Manual of Military Surgery (1861) was written at the government's request. Gross also invented many surgical tools. He was memorably portrayed in Thomas Eakins's masterpiece, The Gross Clinic.

Gross, Samuel David (1805–84) surgeon, author; born near Easton, Pa. After taking his M.D. from Jefferson Medical College (Philadelphia), he set up practice in Philadelphia; he translated and wrote several important works on anatomy and surgery. He went on to teach at Cincinnati Medical College and the University of Louisville before returning to Jefferson Medical College as professor of surgery (1856–82). He had an international reputation as both a teacher and practitioner of surgery, and he continued to be a prolific author; several of his texts were classics, among them Elements of Pathological Anatomy (1839) and System of Surgery, Pathological, Diagnostic, Therapeutic and Operative (1859). His specialties included operations for bladder stone and intestinal wounds; he invented new techniques and instruments. He was one of the founders and most influential members of the American Medical Association (1847). Thomas Eakins portrayed him in a famous painting, The Clinic of Dr. Gross (1875).