“How can one help but be moved by such volumes as these:” the Josiah Charles Trent Collection in the History of Medicine

Dr. Trent attended Duke University as an undergraduate, focusing on English, history, and premedical subjects. He was a member of Kappa Sigma and received his A.B. degree in 1934. He then attended medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1938. Soon after graduation, he married Mary Duke Biddle on June 24. 

After graduating from medical school, Dr. Trent began a series of internships and residencies. He was an Intern at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit from September 1, 1938 until August 31, 1939. From 1939 to 1945, he was an Intern, Assistant Resident, and Resident in General Surgery at Duke Hospital. Dr. Trent then returned to Michigan as Instructor in Surgery (Thoracic) at the University of Michigan Hospital from 1945 until 1946. In 1946, he returned to Durham, and was an Associate Professor of Surgery as well as Chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery until his death on December 10, 1948.