Dear Holmesians,
How good a doctor was Dr Watson?

In "The Adventure of The Engineer's Thumb", he is shown dealing
with one Victor Hatherley for a surgical emergency in the form of an
amputated digit. With his experience as an army surgeon on the
battlefield, this one must have been a piece of cake. He says
he "sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered it
over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages."

Mr Isa Whitney is the patient in "The Man With the Twisted Lip", in
which Watson is summoned on one of those house calls we doctors wish
we could do without. It's the "sorry to disturb you at home at this
hour, doctor, but you must go across town to a seedy, low dive and
make my husband come home and see sense and give up drugs for good.
He'll listen to you" variety. The episode gives little idea of
Watson's clinical acumen but speaks volumes for his forebearance.

Dr Watson is handy with emergencies too,Blessington (in "The Resident
Patient"), Mr Hilton Cubitt (in "The Dancing Men"), Charles Augustus
Milverton and many more, but each time he was either too late or not
in a position to help with the hangings, shootings, stabbings and
other sundry demises. He would have had a crack at diagnosing
Holmes' "fatal" malady in "The Adventure of the Dying Detective" if
he'd been allowed to approach the bed, although since the illness was
all a put-up job as part of a cunning plan, this would have defeated
the purpose rather.

He had his extreme concern over his friend's cocaine habit, of which
he very sensibly disapproved.

How did he fare in the management of the patients in his practice?
Well, they seemed to keep coming back (except at his Kensington
practice, the one which for some unaccountable reason was small and
never very absorbing - draw your own deductions), so they were
pleased with his results From this we can assume he performed at
least as well as any other general practitioner, an amazing feat for
a retired army surgeon out of practice for seven years.

What do you say, Holmesians?
Sumalsn