Monica Russell, age 15, of Great Falls, Mt., for her question:

WHO WAS THE FIRST PHYSICIAN?

The first physician known by name was an Egyptian named Imhotep. He is honored today in medicine Imhotep lived about 2700 B.C. and served as vizier or prime minister to King Zoser of the third Egyptian dynasty. His fame became so great that after his death the Egyptians elevated him to the status of a god and worshiped him for his healing powers.

The Greeks identified Imhotep with their own god of healing, Asclepius. Temples were built to Imhotep and bronze statuettes of him have been preserved. A statue of him stands in the Hall of Immortals in the International College of Surgeons in Chicago.

Sir William Osler, a famous Canadian physician, called Imhotep "the first figure of a physician to stand out clearly from the mists of antiquity."

Imhotep was also an architect, engineer and statesman. No record of his medical work exists, but a step pyramid he built at Saqqarah shows his genius.