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

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Temple University Medical School

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Hospital and Medical School FROM the Medical Department of Temple College in 1901 to the present Schcx)l of Medicine is a far cry indeed. The significance of these words is, perhaps, only fully appreciated by those members of the faculty who played a part in the humble and inauspicious beginnings of the school, and who have survived to witness the truly remarkable fruition of a noble man's faith and vision. The story of the Medical School is woven inseparably with that of Temple University Hospital and it is, therefore, fitting and expedient that these institutions be considered together. From their very inceptions they have been characterized by that state of constant flux which is indicative of healthy growth, a growth that still continues. And we must not forget that the development of the medical center was but concomitant with the astonishing growth of Temple University, conceived in the idealism and love of Russell H. Con well. In 1891, Dr. Conwell, with characteristic foresight, acquired the hospital destined to form the nucleus of the clinical teaching of the medical school, as yet unfounded. He saved from dissolution the North Philadelphia Hospital”, which had heen established a year before by a society of physicians, who now found themselves unable to bear the financial burden. Manifesting his unusual ability to interest others in his benevolent enterprises. Dr. Conwell was able to purchase a brick dwelling, which was the second house north of Ontario Street on the east side of Broad Street. And so, on January 30, 1892, The Samaritan Hospital” was dedicated under a new staff. A year later, a state charter was obtained, and in 1896 the addition of a rear annex and other modifications increased the original capacity of 20 beds to 40. A twin dwelling on the corner was added to the rapidly growing hospital in 1898. In the Spring of 1901, in response to the appeals of a small group of students eager to obtain a medical education and yet remain self-supporting, the Board of Trustees of Temple College determined to establish an evening medical school. A faculty of 20 professors, lecturers, and demonstrators was gathered under the deanship of Dr. Fritz, and a curriculum of five years, with 700 hours of required daytime instruction, was outlined. The class of 31 students met at the main college building at Broad and Berks Streets, and in lofts and basements and whatever spare rooms could be found in the old buildings that housed the Samaritan Hospital. In 1904, two men who had been admitted to advanced standing comprised the first graduating class, and in 1905, two more, similarly admitted, were graduated. Dr. 1. Newton Snively became dean in 1903, and in 1906, a class of 14 men, the first to receive their entire medical education in the Medical Department of Temple College, was graduated. Meanw'hile, the hospital was making significant advances. In 1901, the state made a building grant to the hospital, and a one-story central building for administrative purposes and a three-story north wing were erected in 1903. Because of the recent affiliation with the new Medical School, the staff was reorganized. Dr. I. Newton Snively, the medical dean, Dr. Wolfe, and Dr. Boardman Reed were the chief 17

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physicians. Dr. Edmund Holmes was the chief surgeon, and Dr. W. Wayne Babcock was obstetrician and gynecologist. Later, in 1903, Dr. Holmes resigned. Dr. Babcock becoming surgcon-in-chief. Dr. J. C. Applegate became chief obstetrician to the hospital, and also assumed the chair of obstetrics in the medical school. With the aid of a grant of $50,000 from the State, a two-story south wing was built, bringing the bed capacity to 110. The basement was equipped to render dispensary services. By permission of the courts. Temple College became a university in 1907, and the medical department became the School of Medicine of Temple University. Almost immediately, because of adverse legislation in various states, efforts were begun to convert the school into an approved day school. A four-year course of nine months each was instituted, the junior and senior years being taken in the daytime. Thus, the night school was gradually discontinued. In 1909, Dr. Frank C. Hammond began twenty years of unceasing effort as dean to advance the school to the coveted “A rating. He began with a school of 232 students and 80 faculty members. At that time classes were being held at 18th and Buttonwood Streets in the buildings of the Philadelphia Dental College and the Gar-retson Hospital, which had been annexed to Temple University in 1907. These buildings furnished executive offices, lecture rooms, a library, and an amphitheatre. The Garretson Hospital had a capacity of 75 beds, and was amply supplied with cases for traumatic surgery from the surrounding industrial plants. From 1905 to 1915 two more floors and a roof garden were added to the Samaritan Hospital. The most elaborate improvement was completed on July 18, 1925, with the dedication of a new “main building. The capacity was now 235 beds, and provision had been made for a new kitchen, record room, amphitheatre, operating rooms, etc. In 1927, two new medical wards, the Roosevelt wards with 58 beds, were added, bringing the total to 330. Finally, in 1929, in order to more clearly indicate the relation of the hospital to the university, it was rechristened “Temple University Hospital. In the meantime the Garretson Hospital had outlived its usefulness due to the removal of the industrial plants to outlying parts of the city. Therefore, the maternity department was transferred to the Greatheart Hospital which had been established in April, 1923, at 1810 Spring Garden Street. The upper three fitxirs of the Garretson Hospital were equipped modernly for the departments of Histology and Embryology, Physiology, Pathology, and Bacteriology. A new anatomical dissecting room was installed in the basement. After these improvements had been completed the American Medical Association was asked to grant the school a new rating, but despite these advances the request was refused. In the next three years the entire Garretson building became a part of the teaching space and, in 1928, the much-sought rating was obtained, climaxing the long continued efforts of Dean Hammond. The present stage of development began, in 1929, with the appointment of Dr. William N. Parkinson, Class of 1911, as Medical Director of the Temple University Hospital and Dean of the School of Medicine. Immediately, efforts were begun for the enlargement and improvement of the faculty. And, in the Fall of 1929, the fondest hope of the faculty, student body, and alumni became a reality. Construction 19