March 30. Today is Doctors’ Day, an annual observance that recognizes what physicians do for so many of us. According to nationaltoday.com, the holiday first started in 1933 in Winder, Ga., and since then it’s been observed every year on March 30, the anniversary of Dr. Crawford W. Long using ether anesthesia.  

It’s an official day

Doctors’ Day was unofficially celebrated for many years before it became a holiday. On March 30, 1958, the U.S. House of Representatives adopted a resolution that commemorates Doctors’ Day and on Oct. 30, 1990, President George W. Bush signed the legislature after approval from both the House and the Senate.

How it came to be

According to nationaltoday.com, Eudora Brown Almond, the wife of a doctor in Georgia, believed her husband and other physicians deserved more recognition for their work and set out to make this idea a reality. The first observed Doctors’ Day was March 30, 1933 — 91 years after Dr. Long’s discovery.

Almond mailed greeting cards to all local physicians. She also put red carnations on the graves of deceased doctors, including Dr. Long.

How to celebrate

The tradition of delivering greeting cards to physicians is still a common way of celebrating doctors we know.

Patients across Atrium Health Levine Children’s offices awarded their doctors with superlatives. Patients shared funny, sweet and colorful personalized awards for their doctors, ranging from “having the guts to fix my guts” to “best baby shark singing” and many other thoughtful honors.

Photos courtesy of Atrium Health Levine Childrens