Doctors help people feel better every day. Wednesday is a day set aside to recognize them for that.
National Doctorsí Day is held every year on March 30, and this is the 20th year it is an official observance.
The first Doctorsí Day observance was March 30, 1933, in Winder, Georgia. Eudora Brown Almond, wife of Dr. Charles B. Almond, decided to set aside a day to honor physicians.
She chose March 30 because it marks the anniversary of March 30, 1842, when Dr. Crawford Long of Jefferson, Ga., first successfully used anesthesia to prevent pain and suffering during surgery.
This first observance included the mailing greeting cards and placing flowers on graves of deceased doctors. The red carnation is commonly used as the symbolic flower for National Doctorsí Day.
On March 30, 1958, a resolution commemorating Doctors’ Day was adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1990, legislation was introduced in the House and Senate to establish a national Doctorsí Day. On Oct. 30, 1990, following overwhelming approval by the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, President George Bush signed a new law designating March 30 as National Doctorsí Day.
For more information, log on to www.doctorsday.org.