Abraham Jacobi, M.D.
Biography
Abraham Jacobi was born in Germany in 1830. While a student, he participated in the revolutionary events of 1848. He received a medical degree from the university at Bonn in 1851, the same year he was charged with treason and imprisoned. He escaped in 1853 and fled to the United States, first to Boston and then New York.
His accomplishments in medicine were many and he became known as the Father of Pediatrics in this country. He was the first Professor of Pediatrics in the United States, having been appointed to the post at the New York Medical College in 1860. He established the first free children's clinic there, to help with his teaching. In his first year at New York Medical College, Dr. Jacobi established a method of bedside clinical teaching, a landmark in medical education. Up to that point, physicians did not conduct teaching rounds on medical wards. In the same year, he also founded the first pediatric free clinic.
In 1860 Dr. Jacobi also joined the staff of The Jews' Hospital in New York, known after 1866 as The Mount Sinai Hospital. Here he established the first pediatric department in a general hospital in New York City. He remained on Mount Sinai's staff until his death in 1919, serving as President of the Medical Board from 1884-1919.
Throughout his career, Jacobi took care to balance professional success with social commitment, and he advocated medical care for children on the basis of social justice. Jacobi wrote prolifically, publishing 200 articles and books during his career. His early contributions to the New York Medical Journal helped establish the field of pediatrics.