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

Page 13 text:

FROM CARRIAGE HOUSE TO SCIENCE CENTER One evening in 1890. in the parlor of a home in Tioga, ten men discussed the recent death of a patient and friend. These physicians were residents of Tioga, Franklinville, and Germantown, and periodically they met to review the causes of mortality in their respective practices The post-mortem sessions led to closer professional relationships, and often during their social hours the dream of a new hospital dominated the conversation. In early 1891 under the name North Philadelphia Medical Society they rented a brick building at 3320 N. Broad. It offered free and paid inpatient service, plus an active dispensary unit. Five months after its opening, the President of the Society proclaimed the venture a financial disaster. His resignation was followed by desperate attempts by a group of good Baptist ladies to raise funds, but their efforts were fruitless and the hospital closed. Finally the Society appealed to the Rev. Russell H. Conwell. an educator of high repute, who had distinguished himself for raising money when there was no money. In late 1891 Conwell transferred the facilities to a brick building north of Ontario and East Broad, and on January 20. 1892 he formally opened it as the Samaritan Hospital. Because Conwell was a visionary, young Philadelphians turned to him with their ideas. Many wanted to become physicians, but could not give up their regular sources of income. Therefore, in 1901 Conwell opened Temple College School of Medicine to thirty students, who were willing to study medicine on evenings and weekends. To compound this madness Conwell admitted women and made Temple Pennsylvania's first coeducational medical school. The chemistry and biology laboratories of the College and the hall next to the Baptist Temple were the arenas of the basic sciences, while clinical instruction took place at the Samaritan Hospital. The

Page 12 text:

The house is a large double one with fourteen rooms, admirably adapted to hospital purposes. It stands on a plot of ground fifty by two hundred and twenty feet, which is tastefully laid out in lawns, flower beds, trees, walks, etc. and presents an appearance, inside and out. of a large private home rather than a hospital—a feature quickly observed and highly appreciated by the patients. —Report of Samaritan Hospital. 1892

Page 14 text:

first dissection room was located in the loft of the hospital ambulance house—with the vehicle and horses quartered below. The curriculum was five years—equivalent to four years of day courses. In 1903 a correlated curriculum was established—a method of modern design, for Conwell scheduled simultaneous lectures on specific organ systems by professors of anatomy, physiology, and medicine. By 1907 Temple offered a four year day course. Night classes continued, but only accounted for the first two years. The clinical years required day attendance. By 1908 there were 232 enrolled. The lack of facilities was offset by the quality of the new faculty. In 1903 no one could be on the Samaritan House Staff unless they taught at the medical school. They were distinguished and adventurous men. The first TB lobectomy and the first peripheral nerve transplant for paralysis were performed at the Samaritan in addition to important work with spinal anesthesia and new methods of skin grafting. The Samaritan, however, had growing pains. The 87 patients of 1892 grew to 2.008 by 1908. In 1892 1.448 patients visited the dispensary, but in 1908 the number reached 26.717. In the first half of 1892. 17 operations were performed, but sixteen years later the surgeons operated 1.800 cases. The need for space was acutely felt in 1903. when a balcony collapsed at Philadelphia Baseball Park and the