Background
He was born June 6, 1925, in Richmond, Virginia, to Lillian and Doctor K.F. Bascom. His father was an anatomist and teacher at the Medical College of Virginia.
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John Bascom
Edit ProfileEducation
He earned a bachelor"s in physics and master"s degree in biological science from Kansas State University, graduated from Northwestern University School of Medicine on June 15, 1953 and interned at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, before starting a surgical fellowship at Minneapolis General Hospital. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy in surgery from the University of Minnesota in 1960, where he researched topics in vascular surgery, including vascular graft materials, with Doctor C.R. Hitchcock.
Career
He moved to Oregon in 1960 and worked in Eugene, where he did much of his important research into pilonidal disease, a condition more popularly known as "Jeep seat." The condition had long been attributed to congenital pits in the skin, ingrown hairs or trauma from repeated pressure over the tailbone (such as riding long periods on bumpy terrain in a Jeep). Bascom researched and proposed an alternate theory that normal hair follicles grew infected and swelled shut, with the infection then tracking down into soft fat below the skin and creating abscesses. He also helped adapt and refine less-invasive surgeries for treating persistent pilonidal disease.
This work was praised as "lucid" and a "paradigm shift" by some fellow surgeons.
He also published articles on topics including hernias and saline overload, and belonged to professional groups including the Oregon Board of Medical Examiners, which he chaired.
