Temple University School of Medicine - Skull Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

Page 22 text:

Main Hospital Building On June 18, 1925 the Main Hospital 8uildmg, which still stands today on the Northeast corner of Broad and Ontario Streets, was opened. On March 23, 1901 a meeting of the Board of Trustees of Temple College was held and an evening medical school was established, thus founding the first coeducational medical school in Pennsylvania. The first classes were held September 16, 1901 with an enrollment of 31 students. There was a 20 member medical faculty with W. Wallace Fritz. M.D., D.O.S. as the first dean. Classes were held from 6:45 to 9:45 P.M. daily, with the curriculum extending over a five year period in order to provide the equivalent of four years of day instruction. The first year curriculum included courses in chemistry, physiology, bacteriology, osteology, histology, materia medica and dissection. In the second year, there was practical work in physiology, pharmacology, pathological histology, bacteriology, chemistry and physical diagnosis. Lectures and laboratories were held primarily in College Hall at Broad and Berks Streets, adjacent to the Baptist Temple. The facilities of Samaritan Hospital were used for the required 700 hours of clinical instruction. The first dissection room was located in the loft of the hospital ambulance house. Two men, Frederick C. Lehman and Frank E. Watkins, who had been admitted with advanced standing, were the first to graduate in 1904 Two more students graduated in 1905. In 1906, fourteen more students including two women, Sara Allen and Mary E. Shepard graduated. Although the medical school was continuing to grow in size and to graduate larger numbers of students, its early history was not trouble free. The medical school was founded during a period in which the country was witnessing a rash of new, unapproved medical schools. Some of these schools were offering medical courses by mail, and this trend in medical education was arousing apprehension within the medical profession. In such an atmosphere, the establishment of a night medical school drew criticism from the medical community. The following comment appeared in the November, 1901 issue of the Interstate Medical Journal: We recognize the high standards of the Philadelphia medical schools and we feel that the establishment of this new school along the lines projected, cannot be an advantage to the city as a medical center, to the graduates of such an institution or to the medical profession. Carl Smith, one of the school's first medical students, responded: A criticism of our medical department is not yet due. Wait until the first medical class graduate from the institution and go before the State Boards of Medical Examiners. We are willing to have this result be a base upon which to criticize, but we decidedly object to any unfavorable criticism until then. In 1907 Dr. Henry Beates, President of the Medical Examining Board of Pennsylvania, appeared before the faculty and spoke most laudably of the medical course which is given at the Temple College. He endorsed most highly the work which is being done by both faculty and students and stated that every graduate of the medical department of the Temple College who has thus far been examined by the Medical Examining Board of Pennsylvania has passed successfully. Also in 1907. Temple College was granted the title of Temple University and thus the School of Medicine became a department of the University. In the same year, Temple University became affiliated with the Phila- delphia Dental College and the medical school was transferred to the Dental College Building at 18th and Buttonwood Streets. At the opening of the academic year 1907-08. day classes were offered for the first time. Night school courses were offered until 1909 until the AMA and some states passed legislation whereby students graduating from night medical schools would no longer be recognized. The year 1929 was a prominent one in the history of both the hospital and the medical school. William N. Parkinson, a Temple medical graduate of 1911, became Medical Director of the Samaritan Hospital and was also named Dean of the School of Medicine. During his thirty year tenure. Dr. Parkinson developed the concept of the Temple University Medical Center. Also in 1929 the name of the hospital was changed to Temple University Hospital to indicate the close relationship which had been established between the hospital and the university. In the same year, the world-famous Chevalier Jackson Clinic for the treatment of diseases of the air and food 18

Page 21 text:

Old Medical School TUMS History Although both Samaritan Hospital and Temple University School of Medicine were founded through the efforts of Russell Conwell, initially they were separate but affiliated institutions. Over the years the affiliation has strengthened, and the hospital and medical school have expanded into what is known today as Temple University Health Sciences Center. In June, 1891, a small hospital known as the North Philadelphia Hospital was forced to close due to a lack of funds. Dr. Conwell was petitioned by residents of the area to help reorganize the hospital. With help from his parishioners. Conwell purchased for 815,000 a three—story double house which could be converted into a hospital. This original building was located at 3403 North Broad Street. The hospital was opened in January, 1892 and the following description appeared in a February, 1892 edition of the Philadelphia Times. On the first floor is the men's surgical ward; also the dispensary, parlor, dining room and kitchen, etc., the last named rooms in the rear. The second floor is occupied by the women's surgical and medical, the gynecological, and the men's medical wards and the operating room; the third floor being appropriated to the use of the hospital attaches. The hospital building and grounds were dedicated January 30, 1892 by Dr. Conwell: We christen today the hospital . - • and give it the name of ' he Samaritan.' Inspired by the tender human kindness awakened by that story so simply told by The Great Teacher, we freely give of our time, our talents, our experience, our money that the wounded and neglected may here find true compassion and practical healing. The hospital could accomodate only 20 beds and a dispensary. Due to these limited facilities, the Board of Trustees ruled that the hospital would be intended for charity cases that need medical or surgical treatment and still further, for acute cases only. Chronic and contagious cases would bo treated in the dispensary but would not be admitted to the hospital. During its first year, the hospital admitted 202 patients and cared for an additional 1028 persons in the dispensary, all at a cost of $6,000. In 1898 a second brick building adjacent to the hospital was purchased and for a time, it was used as a maternity department being called the Greatheart Hospital. When the maternity department was later moved to the Main Hospital Building. Greatheart was used as a nurses’ home. -v. Temple University Hospital -past, present and future In 1902 the capacity of the hospital was increased to 60 beds. In the following year, W. Wayne Babcock, M.D. became Chairman of the Department of Surgery, a position which he held for forty years During his long tenure. Dr. Babcock earned worldwide honors for his surgical skill, numerous writings and expert teaching. His reputation partly rests on his promotion of spinal anesthesia, development of techniques for treatment of intestinal cancer and hernia repair, use of stainless steel wire for sutures and invention of surgical instruments. Gifts from the community, along with appropriations from the Slate Legislature, provided funds for the erection of a new building in 1907. Located at 3401 North Broad Street, it provided space for 125 beds and the rapidly expanding dispensary services. In 1908 — 2,000 patients were admitted to the new facilities and another 26.000 persons were treated in the dispensary. 17

Page 23 text:

shortage of qualified personnel. The hospital accelerated its period of internship so that more doctors would be available for service, and the medical school instituted a student ROTC program. After World War II. Dr. Parkinson began implementing his plan for a medical center. In 1947. St Christopher's Hospital for Children became the Department of Pediatrics of Temple University Hospital. With Waldo E. Nelson, M.D. as its Medical Director, the hospital grew from a small neighborhood hospital into a complete child care institute. Also in 1947, the Samuel S. Fels Research Institute became affiliated with Temple providing badly needed facilities and opportunities for research. In 1946 Dr. Theodore L. Chase established the Agnes Barr Chase Surgical Research Foundation in memory of his wife, a Temple medical alumna of 1909. In this same period, classes for the Dental School and the School of Pharmacy moved to a new building at 3223 North Broad Street. This era of expansion continued into the Fifties. In 1956, three new buildings - the Ancillary Services Building, which houses the radiology department, clinical laboratories and surgical operating rooms, the Out-Patient Building and the ten-story Parkinson Pavilion were added adjacent to the Mam Building forming the appearance of the hospital complex as it appears today. In 1957. the Skin and Cancer Hospital became the Dermatology Department of Temple University Hospital and the School of Medicine. This institution had begun in 1928 as an out-patient clinic at 806 Pine Street. In 1965 the present four-story building at 3322 North Broad Street was completed. In 1961 Dr. Parkinson's dream of a medical center was realized as the hospital, the schools and the supporting activities were united into the Temple University Health Sciences Center Today the Health Sciences Center encompasses many diversified Fields of medicine, dentistry and the allied health professions. The School of Nursing was established in 1893 and the Edith Bolling Jones Residence was opened in passages was opened. The development of bronchoesophagology and laryngology is one of the most significant advances of 20th century medicine, and Dr. Jackson devoted his career to the advancement of this field. With the coming of the Thirties, Temple Hospital, like most other institutions, was hard hit as wages plummeted and necessary austerity measures were instituted. In the mid-thirties a pre-paid insurance plan, now known as Blue Ooss. was begun and payments from this program helped Temple and other hospitals across the country remain financially solvent. Despite these problems, medical progress continued. In 1930 the New Medical School Building, located at the northwest corner of Broad and Ontario Streets, was completed. In 1938, Dr. W. Emory Burnett performed the first successful pneumonectomy in Philadelphia; in 1939, Drs. O. Spurgeon English and Edward Weiss developed the first clinic for psychosomatic medicine; and in 1940, Dr. Gerald H.J. Pearson founded a pioneer psychiatry clinic. Dr. John A. Kolmer in medicine. Dr. W. Edward Chamberlain in radiology and Dr. John Royal Moore in orthopedics achieved wide acclaim for original work in their respective fields. Like the Thirties, the Forties were a period of both hardship and growth for the hospital and medical school. With U.S. involvement in World War II many staff members enlisted or were drafted into the Armed Forces, thus forcing the hospital into an emergency situation with an extreme Babcock Surgical Ward William N. Parkinson, M.D.