The Physician as Printer/Publisher: a Rare, but not Unsurprising Combination

Progress in medicine and science has depended much upon the production and circulation of written material. While, throughout history, medical doctors have been actively involved in a wide variety of other fields, such as philosophy, poetry, literature, sciences, politics and the military, many of which have led to the writing of material - it seems that only rarely have physicians become printers and/or publishers. In general those becoming physicians have been characterised as studious, curious, thoughtful, pragmatic, largely even-tempered, dutiful, caring and compassionate.Yet, the reasons why an established physician might take time away from his medical duties to enter the arena of printing and publishing arena are unclear.