Joseph Cochran

Joseph Plumb Cochran M.D. ( Born January 14, 1855 in Urmia, Iran, † August 18 1905 in Urmia, Iran) was an American Presbyterian missionary and physician. He is considered the founding father of the first modern medical school in Iran.

Life

Joseph Cochran's parents were Reverend Joseph J. Cochran and Deborah Plum. They belonged to the first generation of missionaries who traveled to Iran in 1848. They settled in Urmia in West Azerbaijan in Iran, home of the historic Urartukultur and one of the earliest Christian churches, the Assyrian Church of the East. The family devoted their missionary zeal to the welfare of the local population, many of whom were devout Christians.

Joseph was one of eight children of the Cochran family. He had a happy childhood surrounded by his large family and friends. He learned the local languages ​​Syriac, Azerbaijani and Kurdish, in addition to English and Persian. As a teenager, he left Iran in 1868 and traveled to the U.S. to live there with relatives of his family. He studied at New York Medical College Medicine, where he graduated in 1876. He then collected at hospitals two years of practical experience in surgery, infectious diseases, and gynecology. During a trip to Minnesota, he met his future wife Katherine Hale know.

The young couple traveled in 1878 in Iran. After their arrival in Urmia they checked the medical and health needs of the local society and found a poor small clinic, which was held under the auspices of the Iranian Red Lion With Red Sun Company. Because of Joseph's request, the Committee of the Assyrian missionaries purchased a 15 -acre garden, which became the site for a 200 -bed hospital. The hospital was named Westminster Hospital. The construction of the hospital was completed within one year - from planning to opening in 1879.

Cochran was determined to be solved by the creation of a modern medical school, the first of its kind in Iran, the problem of the lack of indigenous health care professional. To achieve this goal, he erected a wooden building, which was equipped with a research laboratory near the hospital where the future medical personnel were trained. Remarkably, this wooden building, near the present Urmia Medical School, received today. An adjacent Obstetrics was founded later, the needed medical equipment for this project came from America.

According to the information the official website of Urmia University, Joseph Cochran was the first director of the Medical School founded in 1878 in Urmia. During the 27 years in which Cochran held the position of director, graduated 26 medical students here. The school was opened closed after Cochran's death in 1905 and remained in this state until it six years later, as one of several schools of Urmia University. The historical archives of Urmia University is in possession of documents that show the signature of Muzaffar al-Din Shah and Joseph Cochran on the deeds of graduate students for Gaduierungszeremonie of 1898.

During this period, Joseph Cochran joined yet at other American physicians, such as Dr. Wright, Dr. Homlz, Dr van Norden and Dr. Miller, who remained permanently in Iran. The full names of these doctors are not known. Your resting places are in Urmia.

Joseph Cochran died in Urmia at the age of 50 years, on the second floor of the wooden building of the Medical School. His death was mourned by many. According to reports, attended his funeral, more than 10000 mourners in part. He was buried in the Assyrian Missionary Cemetery, next to the Seer Mountain in Urmia, in sight of which he founded Medical School, close to the resting place of his wife Catherine and his parents. His grave inscription reads: " He came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. "

His son Joseph P. Cochran, Jr. returned to Iran in 1920 and joined by his services at the American Mission Hospital, in the footsteps of his father. His daughter Dorothy Cochran Romson served a short time as a missionary sister in Tabriz, the capital of East Azerbaijan province.