Like many American anesthesiology departments, Duke’s Department of Anesthesiology began as a division of the Department of Surgery. In the mid-1940s as World War II came to an end, the role of the anesthesiologist was redefined as military physicians returning home from the frontlines introduced more sophisticated intravenous and regional anesthetics to the civilian population. Anesthesiologists across the country called for a movement to establish independent anesthesiology departments at academic institutions.
The first person to attempt this at Duke was C. Ronald Stephen, MD, who served as chief of the Division of Anesthesiology in the Department of Surgery for 16 years. During his tenure, Dr. Stephen recruited an excellent team of physicians, encouraged greater activity in clinical research, and established a residency program. In 1965, he made a highly controversial proposal: the successful anesthesia division should become an independent department. When the administration repeatedly refused his request, he resigned.
The controversy surrounding Dr. Stephen’s resignation did significant damage to the division’s morale. Over time, the faculty dwindled, the residency program collapsed, and the division’s research became almost non-existent. To provide the Division of Anesthesiology with the support it needed, Duke University School of Medicine agreed to create an independent Department of Anesthesiology in 1970. The young department was placed under the leadership of one of Dr. Stephen’s former trainees, Sarah J. Dent, MD, who served as acting chair until a permanent chair could be recruited.