WLM HISTORY REVIEW:

Spirits of Anesthesia

November 1995

Volume 2, Number 3

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SUBJECT: Anesthesia Organizations

The formation of a specialty depends on development of a clearly identified body of scientific and clinical material related to its practice. However, it also depends on the formation of organizations and societies where its members may meet to discuss medical, scientific and political issues. The references cited here describe some of the people and problems encountered during the early years of anesthesia, when it ceased being a branch of surgery and began to gain recognition as a specialty in its own right.

Books:

*Volpitto PP, Vandam LD. The Genesis of Contemporary American Anesthesiology. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C Thomas, 1982. (See particularly Chapter 1 "Francis Hoeffer McMechan" [Seldon TH], Chapter 14 "Historical Development of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, Inc. N [Betcher AM], and Chapter 15 "The American Board of Anesthesiology, Inc." [Haugen FP])

*Wilson G. Fifty Years: The Australian Society of Anaesthetists. Edgecliff, NSW: Australian Society of Anaesthetists, 1987.

Other Resources:Several papers, some of them 'classics,' deal with the history of organizations dedicated to anesthesiology.

*Betcher AM, Ciliberti BJ, Wood PM, Wright LH. The jubilee year of organized anesthesia. Anesthesiology.1956;17:226-264. Betcher AM, Wright LH, Wood PM, Ciliberti BJ. The New York State story of anesthesiology, 1807-1957. New York State Journal of Medicine. 1958; 58:1556-1572. *Griffith HR. History of the World Federation of Anesthesiologists. Anesthesia and Analgesia.1963; 42:389-397.

*Bacon DR, Lema MJ. To define a specialty: a brief history of the American Board of Anesthesiology's first written examination. Journal of Clinical Anesthesiology.1992; 4:489-497. *Bacon DR. The promise of one great anesthesia society: the proposed merger of the American Society of Anesthetists and the International Anesthesia Research Society. Anesthesiology.1994; 80:929-935.

*loan or photocopy available from the WLM.

E-mail your request to wlm@asahq.org.

Compiled by Douglas R. Bacon, M.D. Edited by Donald Caton, M.D.