William A. Nolen (March 20, 1928 – December 20, 1986) was a surgeon and author who resided in

Litchfield, Minnesota Litchfield is a city in and the county seat of Meeker County, Minnesota, Meeker County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 6,624 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Immigration to the county was slow until the St. Pa ...

. He wrote a syndicated medical advice column that appeared in ''

McCall's ''McCall's'' was a monthly American women's magazine, published by the McCall Corporation, that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. It was established as a small-f ...

'' magazine for many years, and was the author of several books. He died on December 20, 1986, at the University of Minnesota Medical Center from heart disease.

Career

Nolen's best known book is ''The Making of a Surgeon'', which continues to be a popular (though now dated) narrative about his experiences as an

intern An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and gove ...

and

resident Resident may refer to: People and functions * Resident minister, a representative of a government in a foreign country * Resident (medicine), a stage of postgraduate medical training * Resident (pharmacy), a stage of postgraduate pharmaceuti ...

surgeon-in-training at

Bellevue Hospital Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States ...

in New York City. Many students contemplating medical school find that it guides their decision. Nolen conducted research at a 1967

Kathryn Kuhlman Kathryn Kuhlman (May 9, 1907 - February 20, 1976) was an American evangelist who is best known as a 'faith healer' who hosted healing services. Early and personal life Kathryn Johanna Kuhlman was born near Concordia, Missouri to German-American ...

fellowship in Philadelphia, with 23 people who claimed to have been cured during her services. Also see: William Nolen, ''Healing: A Doctor in Search of a Miracle''. New York: Random House Nolen's long term follow-ups concluded there were no cures in those cases. Furthermore, "one woman who was said to have been cured of spinal cancer threw away her brace and ran across the stage at Kuhlman's command; her spine collapsed the next day, according to Nolen, and she died four months later." Nolen is also known for his book ''Healing: A Doctor in Search of a Miracle'' (1974). He spent two years examining

faith healers Faith healing is the practice of prayer and gestures (such as laying on of hands) that are believed by some to elicit divine intervention in spiritual and physical healing, especially the Christian practice. Believers assert that the healing ...

and concluded that no patients with organic disease had been cured. He investigated

psychic surgery An alleged psychic surgeon at work Psychic surgery is a pseudoscientific medical fraud in which practitioners create the illusion of performing surgery with their bare hands and use sleight of hand, fake blood, and animal parts to convince t ...

and discovered it was based on sleight of hand trickery. He uncovered many cases of fraud.Williams, William F. (2000). '' Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience: From Alien Abductions to Zone Therapy''. Facts on File Inc. p. 287. "Minnesota physician William A. Nolen researched faith healing in general and wrote ''Healing: A Doctor in Search of a Miracle'' (1974), a book that uncovers many cases of fraud, including the first exposure in the United States of psychic surgery."

Publications

*''The Making of a Surgeon''. Mid List Press (1970, 1990) *''A Surgeon's World''. New York: Random House (1972) *''Healing: A Doctor in Search of a Miracle''. New York: Random House (1974) *''Surgeon Under the Knife''. Book World Promotions (1976)

References

External links

William Nolen Biography
from Mid List Press {{DEFAULTSORT:Nolen, William A. 1928 births 1986 deaths 20th-century American non-fiction writers Physicians from Minnesota American skeptics American surgeons Critics of alternative medicine Critics of parapsychology People from Litchfield, Minnesota Writers from Minnesota 20th-century surgeons