Dorsey, John Syng, 1783-1818

John Syng Dorsey, surgeon, was born in Philadelphia on 23 Dec. 1783. He married Maria Ralston of Philadelphia on 30 Apr. 1807; they had one son and two daughters. Dorsey died of typhus on 12 Nov. 1818. As a child Dorsey received a classical education in Friends schools and studied medicine under his uncle, Dr. Philip Syng Physick. He received his M.D. from the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1802. He then traveled to Europe to study medicine in London and Paris for two years. He returned to Philadelphia and assisted Dr. Physick. In 1807 Dorsey joined the staff of Pennsylvania Hospital and in 1810 became a full surgeon. Also in 1807 he became an Adjunct Professor of Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1813 he was made Professor of Materia Medica and became Professor of Anatomy in 1818, but died after giving his introductory lecture. Dorsey was the writer of the first American surgical textbook, Elements of Surgery, published in 1813.

Noted Philadelphia anatomist and surgeon, Dorsey began the study of medicine under the direction of his famous uncle, Dr. Philip Syng Physick,(1768-1837). Dorsey became adjunct professor of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania in 1807 and in 1813 became professor of materia medica. An attack of typhus killed him in 1818 at the age of thirty-five.

Noted American surgeon.