Doctor Arthur Conan Doyle
Last Updated on April 3, 2021 – Originally published in April of 2015
While some people go into medicine because they feel a “calling” this was not the case with Conan Doyle. The decision was a practical.
In 1876 Conan Doyle’s father, Charles Doyle, entered a facility for treatment of his alcoholism. This put the family in a financial bind. The situation was so severe that Doyle’s mother, Mary Doyle, began taking in lodgers to help make ends meet.
Conan Doyle was 17 at the time. This was his family’s dire financial situation as he tried to decide on a career.
Doctors were well regarded socially and made good incomes. The family lived in Edinburgh and the University of Edinburgh was one of the most highly regarded medical schools of the time. Conan Doyle could attend school and save money on room and board by living at home.
It seemed an obvious choice. Arthur Conan Doyle was to become a doctor.
School Years
The east facade of the University of Edinburgh as built in 1827
Conan Doyle attended the University of Edinburgh from 1876 until his graduation in 1881.
In those days, a medical education consisted mostly of lectures. There was very little “hands on” training.
Conan Doyle once said his medical education was, “one long weary grind at botany, chemistry, anatomy, physiology and a whole list of compulsory subjects, many of which have a very indirect bearing upon the art of curing. The whole system of teaching, as I look back upon it, seems far too oblique and not nearly practical enough for the purpose in view.”
Inspiration for Sherlock Holmes
Joseph Bell – Inspiration for Sherlock Holmes
Oddly, studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh affected the Sherlock Holmes stories.
It was at the university that Conan Doyle met Dr. Joseph Bell. Dr. Bell, the inspiration for the character of Sherlock Holmes, had some rather unusual methods of getting personal information from his patients.
Dr. Bell observed the way a person moved. The walk of a sailor varied vastly from that of a soldier. If he identified a person as a sailor he would look for any tattoos that might assist him in knowing where their travels had taken them. He trained himself to listen for small differences in his patient’s accents to help him identify where they were from. Bell studied the hands of his patients because calluses or other marks could help him determine their occupation.
When Conan Doyle became a writer, he borrowed these techniques of Dr. Bell and bestowed them upon Sherlock Holmes.
Interesting Link – Thesis by Dr. Conan Doyle
Conan Doyle kept on with his studies and submitted a thesis on Tabes Dorsalis (a complication of late stage syphilis infection) and was awarded his doctorate in 1885.
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