Name James Derham | ||
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A start smart black history month presentation james derham
James Derham (May 2, 1762—1802?), also known as James Durham, was the first African American to formally practice medicine in the United States, though he never received an M.D. degree.
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Biography
Derham was born into slavery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was owned by several doctors, and one of his owners, a physician named Dr. Bob Love, encouraged him to go into medicine. By working as a nurse, he purchased his freedom by 1790. He opened a medical practice in New Orleans, and by the age of 20 his annual earnings exceeded $3,000.
Derham met with Dr. Benjamin Rush, the father of American medicine, and Rush was so impressed by Derham that he encouraged him to move to Philadelphia. There he became an expert in throat diseases and in the relationship between climate and sickness.
He also had 10 siblings. Derham disappeared in 1802.