Atwood Native A Pioneer In Field Of Anesthesiology
February 12, 2018 at 4:54 p.m.
By Max [email protected]
His comment turned out to be a remarkable understatement about someone who had been the world's foremost anesthesiologist. Among his many honors, Rovenstine was chair of the department of anesthesiology, New York University Medical Center; director of anesthesia, Bellevue Hospital; a founder and past president of the American Board of Anesthesiology; past president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists; and recipient of the Society's 1957 Distinguished Service Award.
He was a dominant figure in anesthesiology in the United States between 1935 and 1960. His extraordinary research and writings had an enormous impact on the specialty and continue to this very day.
Rovenstine's accomplishments were not limited to his work in the United States. He accepted a guest professorship at Oxford University in England, and later at the University of Rosario in Argentina. According to Wikipedia, he also received visiting appointments in Bohemia, Canada, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, France, Japan, Mexico and South Africa, and he was inducted into the medical society of each respective nation.
Rovenstine was born in 1895 in Atwood, where he clerked in his father's grocery store. He briefly attended Winona College in Winona Lake, and taught high school before moving to Wabash College, where he graduated in 1917. Upon graduation, Rovenstine enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in France during World War I. During the three years active duty he spent much of his time in charge of an engineering demolition squad, where he was an eyewitness to battlefield pain and suffering. After returning home, he spent several years teaching and successfully coaching basketball at LaPorte High School.
Rovenstine thought of his wartime experiences and decided to attend the University of Indiana medical school. He received an MD degree in 1928. In 1930, after struggling to maintain a general practice in LaPorte, he took a faculty position at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he served as an assistant professor of anesthesiology. He worked with his mentor, Dr. Ralph Waters, to develop the use of cyclopropane as an anesthetic agent; they were the first to use it on human subjects. (Cyclopropane is an alternative to ether or chloroform.) Waters was one of the country's first few anesthetic specialists, and he developed a department distinguished by its close collaboration between practice and pharmacology and physiology. By the 1930s, the university was recognized as the "Mecca of Anesthetics."
In light of his accomplishments, in 1935 Rovenstine was appointed chair of the department of anesthesiology at Bellevue Hospital, New York City's oldest hospital. While there he was influential in shaping the department's mission and mentoring future generations of anesthesiologists.
One example was his work in developing the technique for using muscle relaxants like curare during anesthesia. The addition of muscle relaxants to the regimen has changed the practice of anesthesia and increased the range of surgical procedures. Today muscle relaxation is an irreplaceable part of anesthesia.
He was also a dominant figure contributing to regional anesthesia — using local anesthetics to block sensations of pain for a large area of the body, such as an arm or leg or the abdomen. Regional anesthesia (nerve blocks) allows a procedure to be done on a region of the body without the patient losing consciousness. Two of the most frequently used are spinal anesthesia and epidural anesthesia, which are produced by injections made in the appropriate areas of the back. Other examples where regional anesthesia is used include thoracic surgery, ophthalmology, gynecology and for surgery of the stomach, intestines or liver.
Rovenstine also did seminal and important research on a means of disposing of carbon dioxide, or preventing it from being re-breathed when inhalers are used for inhalational anesthesia. This is a critical factor to ensure that anesthetics are used safely and effectively.
During World War II, Rovenstine served on the Army Advisory Board and was responsible for an order to Army general hospitals placing anesthesiologists in charge of operating rooms.
Rovenstine was indeed an important pioneer in advancing surgery and surgical technique, a gift we recipients should be thankful for. He died at age 65, at the height of his career, the world's most respected anesthesiologist. Most assuredly, a local hero.
Max Sherman is a medical writer and pharmacist retired from the medical device industry. He has taught college courses on regulatory and compliance issues at Ivy Tech, Grace College and Butler University. Sherman has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge on all levels. Eclectic Science, the title of his column, will touch on famed doctors and scientists, human senses, aging, various diseases, and little-known facts about many species, including their contributions to scientific research. He can be reached by email at [email protected].
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His comment turned out to be a remarkable understatement about someone who had been the world's foremost anesthesiologist. Among his many honors, Rovenstine was chair of the department of anesthesiology, New York University Medical Center; director of anesthesia, Bellevue Hospital; a founder and past president of the American Board of Anesthesiology; past president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists; and recipient of the Society's 1957 Distinguished Service Award.
He was a dominant figure in anesthesiology in the United States between 1935 and 1960. His extraordinary research and writings had an enormous impact on the specialty and continue to this very day.
Rovenstine's accomplishments were not limited to his work in the United States. He accepted a guest professorship at Oxford University in England, and later at the University of Rosario in Argentina. According to Wikipedia, he also received visiting appointments in Bohemia, Canada, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, France, Japan, Mexico and South Africa, and he was inducted into the medical society of each respective nation.
Rovenstine was born in 1895 in Atwood, where he clerked in his father's grocery store. He briefly attended Winona College in Winona Lake, and taught high school before moving to Wabash College, where he graduated in 1917. Upon graduation, Rovenstine enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in France during World War I. During the three years active duty he spent much of his time in charge of an engineering demolition squad, where he was an eyewitness to battlefield pain and suffering. After returning home, he spent several years teaching and successfully coaching basketball at LaPorte High School.
Rovenstine thought of his wartime experiences and decided to attend the University of Indiana medical school. He received an MD degree in 1928. In 1930, after struggling to maintain a general practice in LaPorte, he took a faculty position at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he served as an assistant professor of anesthesiology. He worked with his mentor, Dr. Ralph Waters, to develop the use of cyclopropane as an anesthetic agent; they were the first to use it on human subjects. (Cyclopropane is an alternative to ether or chloroform.) Waters was one of the country's first few anesthetic specialists, and he developed a department distinguished by its close collaboration between practice and pharmacology and physiology. By the 1930s, the university was recognized as the "Mecca of Anesthetics."
In light of his accomplishments, in 1935 Rovenstine was appointed chair of the department of anesthesiology at Bellevue Hospital, New York City's oldest hospital. While there he was influential in shaping the department's mission and mentoring future generations of anesthesiologists.
One example was his work in developing the technique for using muscle relaxants like curare during anesthesia. The addition of muscle relaxants to the regimen has changed the practice of anesthesia and increased the range of surgical procedures. Today muscle relaxation is an irreplaceable part of anesthesia.
He was also a dominant figure contributing to regional anesthesia — using local anesthetics to block sensations of pain for a large area of the body, such as an arm or leg or the abdomen. Regional anesthesia (nerve blocks) allows a procedure to be done on a region of the body without the patient losing consciousness. Two of the most frequently used are spinal anesthesia and epidural anesthesia, which are produced by injections made in the appropriate areas of the back. Other examples where regional anesthesia is used include thoracic surgery, ophthalmology, gynecology and for surgery of the stomach, intestines or liver.
Rovenstine also did seminal and important research on a means of disposing of carbon dioxide, or preventing it from being re-breathed when inhalers are used for inhalational anesthesia. This is a critical factor to ensure that anesthetics are used safely and effectively.
During World War II, Rovenstine served on the Army Advisory Board and was responsible for an order to Army general hospitals placing anesthesiologists in charge of operating rooms.
Rovenstine was indeed an important pioneer in advancing surgery and surgical technique, a gift we recipients should be thankful for. He died at age 65, at the height of his career, the world's most respected anesthesiologist. Most assuredly, a local hero.
Max Sherman is a medical writer and pharmacist retired from the medical device industry. He has taught college courses on regulatory and compliance issues at Ivy Tech, Grace College and Butler University. Sherman has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge on all levels. Eclectic Science, the title of his column, will touch on famed doctors and scientists, human senses, aging, various diseases, and little-known facts about many species, including their contributions to scientific research. He can be reached by email at [email protected].
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