Paul C. Hodges and the Early Development of Radiology in China

Paul C. Hodges, M.D. of the University of Washington, USA, was invited in 1919 to serve as the director of the Department of Radiology of Peking Union Medical College. During his eight years in China, he had made important contributions to improving radiological diagnostics and developing radiation therapy. He equipped and improved X-ray machines, established a standard X-ray inspection system, successfully designed a simple portable X-ray machine system that could be applied to domestic power supply conditions, and widely installed these machines in northern, central, southern China. In addition, he set up an X-ray school and held summer training courses. He trained many Chinese radiology experts including C. K. Hsieh, Dushan Rong, Jing Wu, Guozhen Li, Shaoxun Wang, etc. Considering his tremendous contribution in providing solid talents and technical support for the early development of China's radiology, he can be regarded as the founder of China's radiology.