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St Bartholomew’s Hospital (“Barts”) was founded in 1123 by Rahere,
an Augustinian monk who had a vision of St Bartholomew when struck
by malaria on a pilgrimage to Rome. On his return he established
the hospital and church in gratitude to the saint who had saved
his life. The church - St Bartholomew the Great - still stands.
The current main buildings enclosing the square date from the
mid-18th century. They were designed by James Gibb, whose
masterpiece, the Great Hall, lists the names of the hospital's
benefactors in gold letters on the walls. The stairwell murals -
The Good Samaritan and Christ at the Pool of Bethesda
- are by William Hogarth.
Noted Barts physicians have included William
Harvey, who discovered the circulation of the blood, and the poet
Robert Bridges, who was a casualty physician in the 1870s. The
modern hospital boasts several eminent individuals and world-class
departments. The staff includes many members of editorial boards,
WHO and UK government experts, and opinion leaders. Individual
interests and publication records can be viewed on the divisional
home pages at
http://www.mds.qmw.ac.uk/divisions.
In 1995, St Bartholomew's Hospital was twinned with the Royal
London Hospital in Whitechapel, which lies just to the east of the
City of London, as ‘Barts’ lies just to the west. The
conglomerate, known as the St Bartholomew's and Royal London
Hospital Trust - together with its academic correlate, the St
Bartholomew's and Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry
- caters for the full range of clinical and research specialties.
The expertise available to Lingua Medica is on-site,
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