National Doctors’ Day in Iran Date in the current year: August 23, 2024

Ibn Sina, commonly known in the Western world as Avicenna, was born in 980 in a village near Bukhara. According to Avicenna’s autobiography, he had memorized the entire Koran by the age of 10. At the age of 16, he turned to medicine. Avicenna both learned medical theory and discovered new methods of treatment by tending the sick.

Avicenna’s best-known work on medicine is The Canon of Medicine completed in 1025. It is a five-volume encyclopedia that presents an overview of the contemporary medical knowledge. The Latin translation of the Canon set the standards for medicine in Medieval Europe and was used a standard medical textbook through the 18th century.

Avicenna’s birthday is celebrated by Iranian physicians and other medical professionals as their professional holiday. Iran has a quite efficient healthcare system and has been very successful in educating/training the necessary human resources. As of 2004, there were 0.5-1.1 physicians per 1,000 population, about 46% of whom were women.