Walter Prentice Bowers (May 19, 1855 – July 22, 1947) was an American general practitioner and the first editor of The New England Journal of Medicine. Born in Clinton, Massachusetts, he worked as a general practitioner in Worcester County for over four decades.[1] He was president of the Massachusetts Medical Society from 1912 to 1914[2] and was managing editor of the society's journal, The New England Journal of Medicine, from 1921 until 1937.[3] He was conferred an honorary Master of Arts by Harvard University in 1935.[1]