University of Pittsburgh - Owl Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

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MEDICAL SCHOOL Dr. |. Chris Lange. an internist and a very conservative practitioner; Dr. Whitmore Snively. an eloquent diagnostician who was called KI” by his friends Itccausc of his preference of this drug for various chronic diseases; Dr. Cyrus B. King, an orthopedic surgeon and a general surgeon as well; and Dr. William J. Asdalc, a medical man and a gynecologist. Among themselves and their friends in the medical profession enough stock in the school was sold to provide a working capital for the venture. This was necessary because there was no endowment for the school. By means of this fund the original building which housed the medical school was erected on Brereton Avenue, adjoining the W estern Pennsylvania Hospital. Originally the Dissecting room was to have been in the old building of the Pittsburgh Free Dispensary, built by the “Turners”. But this plan was changed and the scope of the college was enlarged by an operating pavilion built at the south end of the surgical wards of the Western Pennsylvania Hospital and by a dispensary building and women's clinic, “The Emma Kaufmatin Clinic.” donated by Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Kaufmann. These are the original buildings of the college. The original faculty had the following members: Dr. Samuel Ayers, professor of Nervous and Mental Disorders; Dr. Win. J. Asdalc, Professor of Diseases of Women; Dr. X. W. Brown, Professor of Hygiene; Dr. Hugo Blanck, Professor of Chemistry; Dr. Austin (I. Case. Professor of Diseases of Children; Dr. J. Connell, Professor of Botany, Materia Medica and TherajK-utics; Dr. J. C. Dunn, Professor of Diseases of Skin: Dr. John Miller Duff, Professor of Obstetrics; Dr. W. T. English, Professor of Physical Diagnosis; Dr. Herman W. Hechelman. Professor of Diseases of Eye and Ear; Dr. Thomas I.. Hazzard, Professor of Physiology; Dr. Cyrus B. King, Professor of Orthojiedic Surgery; Dr. J. Chris Lange, Professor of Principles and Practice of Medicine; Dr. James B. Murdock. Professor of Practical and Operative Surgery; Dr. John J. Mabon. 28

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UNIVERSITY O F PITTSBURGH History of the Medical School THK Directory of 1815. of the City of Pittsburgh, contains an article which tells of the formation, in 1814. of a Western Pennsylvania Medical Society. In 1815. it owned a library, chemical and philosophical apparatus, and a cabinet of minerology. Meetings were held every two weeks in a room in the Court House. Dr. Joel Lewis was the lecturer on anatomy; Dr. B. Troust, lecturer on chemistry: M. M. Murray, attorney, lecturer on botany; Mr. l'red Ayster, lecturer on minerology; Joseph Patterson, Ksq., lecturer on astronomy and natural philosophy. This was the first organization, of any kind, in Western Pennsylvania which was founded for the purj ose of studying subjects allied with medicine. In 1864. the Bedford Medical Society had its first meetings. It was named for Dr. Nathaniel Bedford, a pioneer physician of Pittsburgh, and a founder of the Pittsburgh Academy, now the 1‘niversity of Pittsburgh. Nathaniel Bedford came to America from Hngland with the British Army and having settled in Pittsburgh, practiced medicine from 1770 to 1818. This Society met weekly and held all its members responsible for doing serious work in making the meetings worth while. Any member absenting himself three nights in a month was suspended. The club expired in 1885. In nature and in spirit, it would appear that the Pittsburgh Academy of Medicine was the natural successor of the Bedford Medical Society, or it might be said that the Bedford Medical Society was continued after 1888 in the Pittsburgh Academy of Medicine. Our School of Medicine has no direct ancestry in these societies, but from these sources came the incentive for the foundation of a medical school, for undergraduates, in Pittsburgh. There was an article on this subject in a Pittsburgh newspaper of 1848, of unknown origin, but it was in a paper read by Dr. Andrew Fleming, at a meeting of the Bedford Medical Society at the office of Dr. James King, January 26. 1865. that the question was very definitely raised. The members of the society seemed to have been greatly impressed, because they voted for the publication of the pa| er in the Commercial Journal. There were certain general causes for the advocacy of a medical school at this time. There was an increase in the number of medical students commensurate with the growth of population in Western Pennsylvania, and it seemed unjust to allow these persons to go elsewhere for their medical education when the mines and mills about Pennsylvania provided such a wealth of material in surgical work. But more specific causes can Ik- found in two acts of the State Legislature. One act provided for the distribution by a State Anatomical Board to physicians and students for dissection, of unclaimed bodies of i ersons dying in state institutions or elsewhere. Obviously this law was highly beneficial to the cause of medical education. Another act concentrated the schooling of practicing physicians of Pennsylvania within the state, by requiring the endorsement of graduates of schools outside the state by one of the state medical colleges. All the medical colleges of Pennsylvania -Jefferson, University of Pennsylvania, Hahnemann, and the Woman’s Medical College—were located in Philadelphia. There was none in Western Pennsylvania. The actual founders of the Western Pennsylvania Medical School were Dr. James McCann, a man of character, a surgeon, and the author of a definite program for the college; Dr. James B. Murdock, a student of surgical literature; 27

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v E R s I T y O F PITTSBURGH Professor of Diseases of the Nose and Throat; l)r. James McCann, Professor of Principles and Practice of Surgery; Dr. K. A. Mundorf. Professor of Pathology and Histology; Dr. T. M. 'I'. McKennan, Professor of Anatomy; Dr. Whitmore Snivel)’. Professor of Practice of Medicine and Clinical Medicine; Hon. J. F. Slagle, Professor of Legal Medicine; Dr. J. I). Thomas. Professor of Diseases of Gcnito-l.rinary System; Dr. K. A. Wood. Professor of Dietetics. The trustees of the college were: Dr. C. B. King, President; Dr. J. B. Murdock. Vice-President; Dr. W. J. Asdalc, Secretary; Dr. |. Chris Lang.-, Treasurer; Dr. James McCann. Dr. W. Snivel)', Dr. J. I). Thomas, Dr. J. 1!. Connell. Dr. John M. Duff, Dr. J. C. Dunn. Dr. J. P . Murdock was the first Dean. The first catalogue of the school contains within an “Announcement,” the following interesting points. “The Western Pennsylvania Medical College is located on Brereton Avenue and Thirtieth Street. Pittsburgh, on ground adjoining the Western Pennsylvania Hospital. The site is an elevated one overlooking the valley of the Allegheny, pleasant and healthful and while the college is retired from the busy |»ortion of the city it is within a few minutes walk of its marts. “The College Building ready for occupancy October 1, 1886. is but part of an extended plan, which when completed will provide one of the largest, most commodious and perfect medical college buildings in the United States. That part which will be completed this year contains an amphitheatre having a capacity of nearly 30.000 square feet, amply lighted, heated, and ventilated, and will seat 250 persons. The college building also contains a Second Lecture Room provided with chairs and having an area equal to the first. The Anatomical Laboratory is on the fourth floor (top) and encloses an area of over 3,000 square feet. Chemical, Pathology and Physiology Laboratories and Rooms for Microscopic work. Dispensaries and-Clinics were also described. The preliminary requirements of the students were “the jmsscssion of an education sufficiently comprehensive, to enable them to pursue the study of medicine to advantage. Preliminary examinations were not required for college graduates, or High School graduates or Normal School graduates or those “holding Certificates of F.xamination from the examiners of any County Medical Society, covering the requirements of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society.” The curriculum was composed of didactic and clinical lectures, fourteen in each week respectively, recitations, demonstrations, laboratory work and practice in diagnosis. Clinical facilities were found in the College Dispensary- and the W estern Pennsylvania Hospital, which had a daily average of about 200 important cases; and other hospitals and dispensaries of the city. The course of study covered three years, including two full Winter terms of lectures, but the faculty advised three years of graded courses and encouraged it by requiring merely a matriculation fee for the third year. Kach term was six months in length. A Spring course was given for special work. The fees were: tuition $100, matriculation $5.00, Practical Anatomy $10.00. and Graduation $25.00. There were fifty-seven in the first class. The first Alumni Association, 1887. had the following officers: Dr. R. M. Jones, President; Dr. R. K. Warner, Vice-President; Dr. R. B. Ferree, Corre- 29