Amongst other accomplishments, Proust served as a military surgeon during the First World War where he devised a form of mobile operating theatre called the "auto-chir", which could be moved close to the front, and was promoted to Officer of the Legion of Honor in 1925.

Marcel developed a close attachment to their mother, whereas Robert followed in their father's footsteps in the medical tradition.

[5] He studied male (andrology) and female (gynaecology) reproductive tracts, whilst he was Samuel Jean de Pozzi's assistant at Hôpital Broca between 1904 and 1914.

[5] At the recommendation of Pozzi, Proust made frequent educational journeys to the Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins Hospital.

[3] Proust had a profound interest in the accomplishments of Marie Curie and added a section on "curiethérapie" in the fifth edition of his book, when completing his writings on radiothiotherapy of cervical cancer.

He devised a form of mobile operating theatre called the "auto-chir", which could be moved close to the front.