ABSTRACT
Charles Horace Mayo (1865–1939) was an American surgeon. Along with his brother William James Mayo, he founded the Mayo Clinic. The Mayo brothers were among the first to develop the concept of medical specialisation: at the Mayo Clinic, doctors worked together in caring for patients with complex medical problems. The clinic’s innovative system was to recruit some of the most renowned medical specialists of their day. Charles Mayo’s particular specialty was thyroid and cataract surgeries. Mayo was also an early proponent of social accountability in medicine – the clinic treated large numbers of poor patients.
