History
Jefferson Medical College was founded in 1824. In 1825, Jefferson became the first medical college in the country to establish a clinic. Standard medical school curricula then consisted solely of lectures, making Jefferson an innovator in combining patient care with formal education. By 1877, the clinic had become the Jefferson Medical College Hospital, the second hospital In the United States to be directly associated with a medical school.
The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology has been part of Jefferson Medical College since its inception, in 1824. “The Department that began at Jefferson as “Midwifery and Diseases of Woman and Children” has segmented into many sophisticated areas involving preventive care, perinatal and genetic diagnosis, and major improvement in the conduct of delivery including fetal monitoring.” 1
Student lectures on midwifery and diseases of women and children and, later, obstetrics and gynecology have been given by a number of individuals over the years. These include Drs. Samuel McClellan (brother of George McClellan), Charles Delucena (a founding editor of the North American Medical and Surgical Journal), Ellerslie Wallace (one of the founding members of the American Gynecological Society), and Edward E. Montgomery (who was a founding member of the American Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the first person to hold simultaneous memberships with the AAOG and the American Gynecological Society).
In 1835, Francis S. Beattie, 1st Chair of the Department, assisted Professor William Gibson with the first, successful for both mother and child, Caesarean section, in Philadelphia.
In the late 19th century, Dr. Theophilus Parvin, 10th Chair of the Department, established “hospital instruction in obstetrics for medical students”2 and instituted, at Jefferson first obstetrical clinic, in the United States.
Thomas Jefferson University also had the distinct honor of having Edward P. Davis, author of the Treatise on Obstetrics and Students and Practitioners (1896)
Chairmen of Jefferson Obstetrics & Gynecology
| Francis S. Beattie, MD | (1824 – 1826) | Professor of Midwifery and Diseases of Woman and Children |
| John Barnes, MD | (1826 – 1827) | Professor of Midwifery and Diseases of Woman and Children |
| John Eberle, MD | (1928 – 1831) | Professor of Midwifery |
| Usher Parsons, MD | (1831 – 1832) | Chair of Midwifery |
| Samuel McClellan, MD | (1832 – 1839) | Chair of Midwifery |
| Robert M. Huston, MD | (1839 – 1841) | Professor of Obstetrics and Disease of Women and Children |
| Charles Delucena Meigs, MD | (1841 – 1862) | Professor of Midwifery and Diseases of Woman and Children |
| William V. Keating, MD | (1861 – 1862) | Professor of Midwifery and Diseases of Woman and Children (unable to complete his term. Dr. Meigs acted as interim Professor for the remainder of the year.) |
| Ellerslie Wallace, MD | (1862 – 1883) | Professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women |
| Theophilus Parvin, MD | (1883 – 1898) | Professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children |
| Edward E. Montgomery, MD | (1892 – 1920) | Professor of Gynecology |
| Edward P. Davis, MD | (1898 – 1925) | Professor of Obstetrics |
| Brooke M. Anspach, MD | (1921 – 1940) | Professor of Gynecology |
| Pascal B. Bland, MD | (1925 – 1937) | Professor of Obstetrics |
| Norris W. Vaux | (1937 – 1946) | Chair of Obstetrics |
| Lewis C. Scheffey, MD | (1940-1946) | Professor of Gynecology |
| Lewis C. Scheffey, MD | (1946 – 1955) | Chair, Obstetrics and Gynecology Director, Division of Gynecology |
| Thaddeus L. Montgomery, MD | (1955 – 1961) | Chair, Obstetrics and Gynecology |
| John B. Montgomery, MD | (1961 – 1965) | Chair, Obstetrics and Gynecology |
| Roy G. Holly, MD | (1965 – 1974) | Chair, Obstetrics and Gynecology |
| James H. Lee, MD | (1975 – 1987) | Chair, Obstetrics and Gynecology |
| Richard N. Depp, MD | (1987 – 1997) | Chair, Obstetrics and Gynecology |
| Ronald J. Bolognese, MD | (1997-2002) | Chair, Obstetrics and Gynecology |
| Vincenzo Berghella | (2002-2004) | Interim Chair, Obstetrics and Gynecology |
| Louis Weinstein, MD | (2004-2010) | Chair, Obstetrics and Gynecology |
| Joseph M. Montella, MD | (2010-2011) | Interim Chair, Obstetrics and Gynecology |
| William D. Schlaff, MD | (2011 – Present) | Professor and Chair, Obstetrics and Gynecology |
Works Cited:
1. – 2. “Part III: Clinical Departments and Divisions Continued --- Chapter 45: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (pages 707-736)” (1989).Thomas Jefferson University – tradition and heritage, edited by Frederick B. Wagner, Jr., MD 1989. Paper 36.
http://jdc.jefferson.edu/wagner2/36.
