Edward Jenner (1749 - 1823) was an English surgeon, who discovered a vaccination for smallpox. It is in fact, the world's first vaccine. Edward Jenner was born in Berkeley, Gloucestershire on 1749. It was a time when on the one side, there were ‘surgeons’ who simply acquired their medical knowledge through apprenticeship and on the other there were academically-trained doctors. Jenner became one of the former types. At the age of 14, he was apprenticed by a local surgeon, where he gained most of the experience needed to become a surgeon himself. On completing his apprenticeship at the age of 21, he went to London and became the house pupil of Dr. John Hunter, at St. George’s Hospital. After studying in London from 1770 to 1773, he returned to Berkeley and spent the rest of his career as a doctor in his native town.