History of medical practice in Illinois - Bushnell Historical Society

.Ophthalmology 265ing class will be instructed in the use of the ophthalmoscope." Dr. John E.Harper was in charge, listed as Professor of Ophthalmology and ClinicalDiseases of the Eye, later (1883-87) as Professor of Ophthalmology amiOtology, still later (1888-91) as Professor of Diseases of the Eye and ClinicalOphthalmology, and finally, in 1900, Professor of Ophthalmology andClinical Ophthalmology. This variation of titles indicates some of thebetween ophthalmologychanging concepts, especially as to the affiliationand otology. Dr. Boerne Bettman was Lecturer in Ophthalmology and Otologyfrom 1883 to 1886, and then followed Dr. Harper as Professor in 1891.When the latter returned to the faculty in 1898, both were listed with therank of Professor until 1900, when Dr. Bettman's name no longer appeared.From 1882 to 1886, Drs. Harper and Bettman seem to have constituted theentire department, not only of ophthalmology but also otology. In 1887,with Dr. Bettman gone, Dr. G. Erwin Brinckerhoff was given his post asLecturer, and Dr. J. B. Loring was listed as an attending physician in theEye and Ear Department of the Dispensary where he remained for a numberof years. Others to be added to the Dispensary staff during this timewere Drs. H. M. Martin, H. B. Williams, W. E. Gamble and Oscar Dodd.The latter two, together with Dr. Loring, were made Clinical Instructorsin 1893, and Dr. Gamble was named Adjunct Professor of Ophthalmologyin1900. In that same year Dr. Casey A. Wood was listed as Professor ofClinical Ophthalmology.Early Postgraduate Training inOphthalmologyVery little opportunity was offered in Illinois, and none outside Chicago,for training in ophthalmology during the 1850-1900 period. Men desiringto prepare themselves for specialization—and this meant in the fields ofophthalmology and otology, and later in the combined eye, ear, nose andthroat field—were obliged, for the most part, to go either to one of the institutionson the eastern seaboard or to Europe for postgraduate study.As far as can be determined from the records, the first internship wasestablished at the Illinois Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary in 1887, whenWilliam L. Noble was appointed to serve for one year. The number ofinternships was increased from one to three in that institution in 1897,and from three to four in 1907. There was no other residency or internshipin ophthalmology in Illinois prior to 1900. 4 Short postgraduate courseswere offered occasionally by such institutions as the Chicago Policlinic,founded in 1886, with Drs. Hotz and Colburn as Professors of Ophthalmology;the Postgraduate Medical School of Chicago (1886) under Dr.W. Franklin Coleman, and the Illinois Postgraduate Medical School*A residency in ophthalmology was not established at the Cook County Hospitaluntil 1 9 1 (j