Professional Documents
Culture Documents
100 Years of Excellance For Saint Louis University School of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine
100 Years of Excellance For Saint Louis University School of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine
100 Years of Excellance For Saint Louis University School of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine
Spring 2011
Match Day
exceence 100
Years of
Known at different times as Medicine, or as Experimental Medicine and Therapeutics, the Department of Internal Medicine started with a dozen physicians who were jacksof-all-trades and grew into a department with nearly 130 full-time medical specialists in 10 divisions cardiology; endocrinology; gastroenterology and hepatology; general internal medicine; geriatrics; hematology and medical oncology; infectious diseases, allergy and immunology; nephrology; pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine; and rheumatology. As part of the departments year-long centennial celebration, a different division is featured every month with daily health tips on St. Louis radio station KEZK-FM
102.5; the divisions are sponsoring health literacy programs through the St. Louis County Library and news of special department events and stories are carried on digital display boards throughout the Medical Center and on the SLUCare website. A special exhibit of archival materials is on display outside the Medical Center Library. Were very proud of our heritage as the oldest university west of the Mississippi and the part our department of internal medicine plays in increasing the prestige of the University, said Adrian Di Bisceglie, M.D., chair of the department of internal medicine and holder of the Badeeh A. and Christine V. Bander Chair in Internal Medicine. You can follow the departments rise to national and international prominence by tracing its timeline.
1900s
No immunizations against childhood diseases. No blood pressure medications. No effective treatments for heart disease, cancer or ulcers. Roentgenographs (x-rays) were coming into use but were considered more of a novelty than a diagnostic tool.
1903 SLU acquires the Marion-Sims-Beaumont College of Medicine, resuming medical education the University had ceased in 1855. 1910s
1911 Charles Hugh Neilson, M.D., is appointed director of the department of medicine. 1918 The first wave of an influenza pandemic hits the nation, killing more than 20 million people more than had been killed in WWI. 1919 Ralph A. Kinsella Sr., M.D. (11), joins the School of Medicine as a professor in the department of medicine. He receives a federal grant to study infectious diseases. To help investigate the influenza pandemic, he recruits recent School of Medicine graduate Goronwy O. Broun Sr., M.D. (18), whose sister died from the virus. Together they discover the factors responsible for hemorrhaging in severe cases. The department has 26 part-time faculty members.
And in 1911, Saint Louis Universitys School of Medicine established what would become one of its largest departments, the Department of Internal Medicine.
6 Grand Rounds
1920s 1924 Kinsella, also known as Big Red, is appointed director of the department of medicine and physician-in-chief of the University Hospitals, which consists of St. Marys Hospital, St. Marys Infirmary and Mt. St. Rose Hospital. Associated hospitals include Alexian Brothers, St. Anthonys and St. Johns.
Kinsella
1933-38 Brouns research into encephalitis brings national attention to the department. Broun was the first to isolate the viral agent responsible for St. Louis Encephalitis. 1933 Firmin Desloge Hospital is opened, supplanting St. Marys Infirmary as the chief teaching center of the medical school. The hospital was owned jointly by the Sisters of St. Mary and the University until 1959. The Graduate Board authorizes the conferring of the degree of master in internal medicine, in place of the previously conferred degree, master of science in internal medicine. 1936 The American Board of Internal Medicine convenes for the first time, and the first internists are certified. Neilson is the first from SLUs School of Medicine to be certified.
1950s
Ralph A. Kinsella Sr., M.D. (11), was the first to demonstrate that
salicylates, such as aspirin, have anti-inflammatory effects. He also made a major contribution to the understanding of the pathogenesis of infective endocarditis.
1951 J. F. Gerard Mudd, M.D. (45), establishes the Cardiac Catheterization Lab. 1952 Mary Frances Nawrocki, M.D., is the first woman to graduate from the School of Medicine. 1954 Broun becomes chairman of the department of internal medicine. The John Cochran Veterans Administration Medical Center opens and becomes an important part of the departments clinical, teaching and research activities. The relationship continues today. 1958 Broun retires and is succeeded by Rene Wegria, M.D. as chairman. chairman 1960s 1961 Broun emerges from retirement to become dean of the School of Medicine. 1964 Thomas F. Frawley, M.D., succeeds Wegria. 1965 The division of allergy is created with the hiring of Raymond Slavin, M.D. (56).
WEgria Ayres
J. F. Gerard Mudd, M.D. (45), established the first major cardiac catheterization laboratory in St. Louis in 1951, thus beginning landmark clinical research that continues today. George E. Thoma, M.D. (47), professor emeritus in the division of nuclear
medicine and vice president for the medical campus (1973-86), was a pioneer in the use of radio-isotopes in diagnosis and was the first editor of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
Broun, who left the school to work with some of the most famous virologists of the time, returns to the University and becomes the first full-time faculty member in the department. 1925 The department of medicine is renamed the department of internal medicine and has 40 faculty members. 1927 Rev. Alphonse Schwitalla, S.J., is appointed dean of the School of Medicine, and Neilson is appointed associate dean the following year. 1930s 1930 The University formally establishes graduate fellowships in internal medicine, which marks the beginning of formalized training in internal medicine at SLU. These positions were filled by men who had completed their medical degrees and had at least one year of approved internship. The two-year program provided physicians with the opportunity for intensive development both in the fundamental and the clinical sciences, fitting him more adequately for his future work as a physician. 1931 Broun is promoted to professor of internal medicine. The department has 48 faculty members. 1932 Graduate fellowships are designated to honor the Broun memory of persons intimately associated with the development of the school. Honorees in internal medicine include the William Banks Rogers, the Mother Seraphia, the Don R. Joseph and the William Beaumont Graduate Fellowships in Internal Medicine.
in memory of a father
John Morley, M.D., and James Flood, Ph.D., were the first to establish a mouse model of Alzheimers disease, which has allowed them to develop revolutionary therapies that appear to reverse the memory deficits in these animals by blocking production of beta-amyloid. Morley and his team also are leading studies on hormone replacement therapy to treat and/or prevent some of the problems of aging. One of their most significant findings showed that testosterone therapy could improve memory and strength in elderly men. The division of infectious diseases has received federal funding as
a Vaccine Treatment and Evaluation Unit for two decades. One of eight NIAID-funded vaccine research centers, the division is studying the safety and efficacy of several vaccines including potential vaccines against various strains of flu and TB.
Bruce R. Bacon, M.D., played a critical role in the discovery of the gene
responsible for hemochromatosis. He and his team also are pioneering combination drug therapies for patients with chronic hepatitis C.
Frawley
1940s 1940 Faculty increases to 66 members. Broun becomes director of laboratories. 1946 After WWII, the hospital board increases the number of residencies to meet the demands of returning medical officers. Residencies in internal medicine increased from three to nine.
1966 The internal medicine residency program is accredited by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education. 1970s 1975 Stephen M. Ayres, M.D., is appointed chairman of the department. 1977 The department establishes the division of endocrinology. 1980s 1981 The combined internal medicine and pediatrics residency training program is established.
1949 Neilson retires. The same year, Melvin A. Casberg, M.D., succeeds Schwitalla as dean of the school. Three women are admitted to the school.
8 Grand Rounds
In graditude in
2000 D. Douglas Miller, M.D. (Bus 99) , is named chairman of the department. 2001 Saint Louis University Liver Center is established. It becomes the largMILLer est liver center in Missouri in terms of research funding, patient visits, clinical trials and hepatologists. It has the most active Hepatitis C practice in the United States. 2006 World renowned hepatologist Adrian M. Di Bisceglie, M.D., is appointed acting chairman of the department. In 2009 Di Bisceglie is named chair and inaugural holder of the Badeeh A. and Christine V. Bander Chair in Internal Medicine.
1985 Coy Fitch, M.D., is appointed acting chairman of the department of internal medicine. In 1988 he is named chairman. 1985 St. Louis City Hospital closes.
35 years
a past proud
1987 The University Hospital is expanded with the building of Bordley Tower. The division of general internal medicine is established and plays an instrumental role in developing the comprehensive, affordable University Health Plan for students and families. 1988 The division of geriatric medicine is created, and internationally known gerontological researcher, clinician and educator, John E. Morley, M.D., is appointed director. 1989 Fitch recruits Robert Belshe, M.D. (infectious diseases) and, a year later, Bruce R. Bacon, M.D. (gastroenterology and hepatology) as division directors, thus beginning significant education, research and clinical expansions in their specialties. 1990s 1996 Patricia Monteleone, M.D., (61) is named first woman dean of the School of Medicine. 1998 Saint Louis University Hospital is sold to Tenet Healthcare Corp.
Monteleone
Raymond G. Slavin, M.D., (56) Professor | Director of Allergy and Clinical Immunology | 46 years
Washington University had left City Hospital that summer, and SLU remained. In July, the city experienced 17 consecutive days of temperatures above 100 degrees. The ER was the only area with air conditioning. Many patients experienced heat stroke in the hospital! A heat stroke room set up next to the ER was filled with patients immersed in ice. More then 700 patients were admitted with heat stroke, and 150 people died in St. Louis during that heat wave. Ten days into the scorching heat, Scott Air Force Base sent over a desert team with jet engines to run compressors that generated cold air to be piped into the wards. It was quite a sight to see an enormous tent housing the jet engines in front of the hospital. There were no private rooms only large wards with beds on the periphery. On each ward another row of beds was set up in the middle of the room. I can remember going down to City Hospital to see consults and lecture and feeling exactly like I was in a sauna. All faculty members participated, but particularly yeoman services were rendered by Drs. Bob Heaney, Bill Mootz and Don Kennedy. Everyone who was at City Hospital during that period, including medical students, was invited to a party at Dr. Steve Ayres home, who then was chairman of the department. We were given a blue pin with 1980 emblazoned on it. Several weeks later at medicine grand rounds at the LRC, Dr. Ayres asked all of the people from City Hospital to stand amidst thunderous applause.
2008 The University opens the new Edward A. Doisy Research Center. The department has grown to: 128 full-time faculty 275 part-time faculty 103 residents 75 fellows Faculty members serve as attending physicians at Saint Louis University Hospital, the Veterans Administration Medical Center, SSM St. Marys Health Center and Des Peres Hospital. The department generated more than $15.5 million in externally funded research in 2010.
In honor of Dr. Coy Fitch, the physician who helped lead SLUs department of internal
medicine to prominence, the Fitch family has established the Drs. Coy D. and Rachel F. Fitch Endowed Lectureship Fund. Gifts to this fund can be made using the envelope which appears in this magazine.
10 Grand Rounds
Di Di Bisceglie Bicseglie