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Concept
Lester Dragstedt
Summary
Lester Reynold Dragstedt (2 October 1893 – 16 July 1975) was an American surgeon who was the first to successfully separate conjoined twins. He was considered nationally known, and a leading authority on ulcers and gastroneuro surgery.
Lester Reynold Dragstedt was born in Anaconda, Montana to Swedish emigrant parents. His younger brother, Carl Albert, also became a doctor and surgeon. In his youth, his father encouraged him to memorize poetry including Bible passages and fragments of famous speeches. He was valedictorian of his high school and was offered a scholarship to schools including the University of Chicago. Swedish physiologist Anton Julius Carlson was a long-time friend of the Dragstedts who was the local Lutheran minister but started teaching physiology at the University of Chicago and encouraged the Dragstedts to "send the boy to Chicago. They will found out in three months if he has any brains, and if he does not, you can bring him back to Anaconda and put him to work in the copper smelter". In the beginning, Dragstedt thought of becoming a physicist after hearing lectures by Robert Andrews Millikan but was later influenced by physicians Ivan Pavlov and Michel Latarjet. However, he was especially influenced by A. J. Carlson, whom he would consider a mentor and advisor throughout his career, and Dragstedt pursued his studies of physiology. Dragstedt became a talented operating surgeon after practicing with animals and was attracted to surgery but he felt physiology had "greater promise for innovative accomplishments".
He primarily studied at the University of Chicago, where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1915, Masters of Physiology in 1916, Ph.D of Physiology in 1920 and finally Doctor of Medicine the following year. In 1918, he met Gladys Shoesmith, a student at Iowa and later married her in 1922. In 1916, he started as a physiologist and instructor of pharmacology at University of Iowa before returning in 1919, after serving in the military during World War I.
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