DEPARTMENT OF ANESTHESIOLOGY ANNUAL REPORT

HISTORY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ANESTHESIOLOGY
Like many American Departments of Anesthesia, the roots of the current Department lay in nurse anesthesia.
In fact, from 1930 to 1944 all anesthesia at Duke was administered by nurses under the supervision of surgeons.
Duke had one of the first schools of nurse anesthesia, begun in 1931 and pioneered nurse anesthesia education
by extending the duration of education to two years in 1966. Dr. Ruth Martin was recruited as the first physician
anesthetist in 1944 and she was succeeded in 1950 by the brilliant and energetic leader of anesthesia, Dr Ronald
Stephen from Canada. During the Stephen years, the anesthesia residency flourished, as did clinical research.
The residency grew from a number of 3 to 16 when Dr. Stephen left Duke in 1966.
The Division of Anesthesia of the Department of Surgery became an independent academic Department of
Anesthesia in 1968 under the guidance of Dr. Sarah Dent. In 1971, the distinguished professor and Chairman of
Anesthesia at New York Downstate Medical Center and at the Pritzker School of Medicine in Chicago, Dr. Merel H.
Harmel was recruited to Duke to continue to develop the young Department. The Department grew in quality and
quantity with the addition of faculty and residents as well as the inauguration of a basic science research program.
Clinical programs also were developed during this time with new programs in critical care medicine, hyperbaric
medicine and pain management. Dr. Harmel retired from the chairmanship in 1983 and was followed by Dr. W.
David Watkins who was recruited from the Harvard system. Dr. Watkins emphasized a strong residency program
and increased the size from 29 to 50 residents in the seven years of his leadership. The Department continued to
play an important institutional role boasting the Clinical Director of the Hyperbaric Medicine Center, Director of the
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Co-Director of the Surgical Intensive Care Units at the VA and Duke Hospitals, and
Director of the Duke Heart Center. Research also continued to expand as reflected by additional Ph.D. faculty and
the award of multiple outside grants.
The Department is now led by Dr. Jerry Reves, a cardiac anesthesiologist, whose plans include the development
of stronger subspecialty anesthesia programs, creation of more fellowships, and emphasis of research in molecular
pharmacology, neurobiology, and clinical pharmacology. With steady progress through the years, the Department
is now poised to be one of the very few centers of academic excellence in the field of anesthesiology. All the
requirements are in place: an outstanding well organized residency education program, a large and diverse clinical
case load of over 35,000 operations and deliveries, superb facilities, solid research base, a first-rate Department of
Surgery with which to work closely, and a Medical Center Administration committed to an Anesthesia Department
of the highest order. This is probably the most exciting time in the entire history of Duke Anesthesia.