Halvard Birkeland

Artium from Christiania Cathedral School in 1886. Bachelor of Medicine from the University in Oslo in 1894. He established himself as a leader and researcher and his peers saw in him a future professor. He chose as his specialty Internal Medicine and Pediatrics and began to take the needed steps: Internship, Residency, 1st Assistantship in the University Hospital and Oslo Municipal Hospital. However, since the salaries in these positions at that time were minimal and inadequate for raising a family, he gave up an academic career and began private family practice in a poor district in Oslo. He was also a substitute for the District physician in Verdal in 1895/96 and Hjula Veveri in 1896. He was City District Physician in Christiania/Kristiania/Oslo from 1901 till 1934, taking care of the needy for about $400 per year, for which he worked long hours, day and night, and had to climb 5-story tenement buildings.