Walter Rudolf Hess practised at a period when medicine itself was being rebuilt on new foundations.
The record lists Walter Rudolf Hess as Swiss physiologist (1881-1973).
Walter Rudolf Hess was born at Frauenfeld in 1881. His recorded nationality is Switzerland. He trained at University of Zurich.
Around the turn of the twentieth century, laboratory medicine, vaccines and public health began to change mortality at population scale.
His posts were held at University of Zurich.
The recorded fields of work are human physiology, ophthalmology and neuroscience.
Clinical knowledge is accumulated slowly and revised often, usually at some cost.
Recognition followed: Marcel Benoist Prize (1931), Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1949) and Carl-Ludwig Honorary Medal (1938).
That the work was done from Switzerland matters: hospitals, training and research funding are unevenly distributed, and they decide which questions can be asked.
Walter Rudolf Hess died in 1973, aged 92. What survives is the change in practice, which is how a medical life is actually measured.
Achievements
- Marcel Benoist Prize — 1931
- Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine — 1949
- Carl-Ludwig Honorary Medal — 1938
- Held posts at University of Zurich
- Fields: human physiology, ophthalmology and neuroscience
