WORCESTER MEDICINE

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Worcester Medicine, The official
bi-monthly publication of WDMS, addressing important healthcare issues facing central Massachusetts

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The Union Medical Association was officially established at Blackstone Village, Mendon, Massachusetts, on May 12, 1834 by local doctors Hiram Allen, Abel Wilder, Metcalf Marsh, Ariel Ballou and Moses D. Southwick. The goal of the Union Medical Association was to maintain and advance the medical knowledge of its members. This collection includes reports and transcripts of lectures on interesting medical cases, new remedies, medical ethics, and statistics created from 1834 to 1858 by the Association’s members. Also included in this collection are autograph letters of different French, English, and American physicians dated 1758 - 1836. Currently, the original papers of the Union Medical Association are the part of the Worcester District Medical Society collection housed at the Worcester Historical Museum.

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In 1954 Dr. Paul F. Bergin who was, at the time, the Society's secretary wrote a history of the WDMS. This consisted of two typescript copies.

To disseminate and celebrate our long history, in 1994 Dr. John J. Massarelli, a past president of the Society, edited the typescript from which we published the History of the Society 1795-1954 as a bound book.

Subsequently, Dr. Massarelli took it upon himself to extend our written history up to our 200^th anniversary year by authoring the follow up history of 1954-1994. Of some interest, the original title was "A Fraternity of Physicians" but upon reflection and especially in view of chapter 25 the title was changed and the book was published in 1995 as "A Community of Physicians".