McDowell, Ephraim (1771-1830), was an American surgeon who pioneered abdominal surgery techniques. In the early 1800’s, McDowell became famous in Kentucky and surrounding regions for successfully performing difficult operations.
McDowell was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, on Nov. 11, 1771. In the early 1780’s, he moved with his family to Danville in what was then the Kentucky Territory. In 1790, he began a three-year apprenticeship with a doctor in Virginia. In 1793 and 1794, he attended medical lectures at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, but he did not earn a medical degree. In 1795, McDowell returned to Danville and began a medical practice.
McDowell became well known for performing operations to repair hernias and to remove bladder stones. The surgeries were particularly difficult and not common at the time. McDowell later carried out both operations on 17-year-old James K. Polk, who in 1845 would become the 11th president of the United States. McDowell also gained fame for pioneering surgery to remove ovaries as a treatment for cancer. On Dec. 25, 1809, McDowell removed a 22-pound (10-kilogram) ovarian tumor from a patient at his office in Danville.
In 1819, McDowell became one of the founders of Centre College in Danville. In 1825, he received an honorary medical degree from the University of Maryland. McDowell died on June 25, 1830, in Danville. A statue of McDowell represents Kentucky in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.
