In 1836 he was appointed professor of surgery in the Cincinnati Medical College, and afterward spent some time in the hospitals of Paris and London.

In the spring of 1840, appreciating the want of practical demonstration in teaching surgery, and the difficulty in securing cases for illustration in colleges that were unconnected with hospitals, he visited with his students two or three of the city dispensaries, selected interesting cases, and had them taken to the College of Physicians and Surgeons, where the anatomical theatre offered superior advantages for making diagnoses and performing operations before the class.

In 1846, with Dr. James R. Wood, he secured the necessary legislation to reorganize the city almshouse into what is now Bellevue Hospital, and was appointed one of its visiting surgeons.

In 1864–1866 he was active in procuring legislation to create the New York City Board of Health, made many visits to Albany in its behalf, and was one of its members from its organization.

His treatment of his patients being based on the theory that alcohol is essentially a poison, that it cannot be considered as food, and should be used only in exceptional cases and under the advice of a physician.