The Final Frontier Dr. Joseph Kerwin made the longest journey to see a patient when he became the first doctor to practice in space. Dr. Kerwin took off with the crew of Skylab 2 from Cape Kennedy, Fla., for a 28-day mission that began on May 25, 1973. While in flight, he performed daily routine medical tests on the other two astronauts on board, Charles "Pete" Conrad and Paul Weitz, observing their physiology during extended zero gravity. Upon completing his internship, Dr. Kerwin, who received his medical degree from Northwestern University Medical School in 1957, trained as a Navy flight surgeon. After his space voyage, Kerwin headed the mission specialist group of astronauts at Johnson Space Center in Houston. He retired from NASA in 1983 at the age of 51.
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