The history of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology parallels the history of the Medical School at the University of Michigan. Each dates from modest beginnings in 1850 and, after a series of travails in the nineteenth century, most fully realized their potential in the twentieth century. In the early years instruction was handled by Abram Sager and Alonzo Benjamin Palmer, each of whom taught other medical courses. As time passed medicine became more scientific and specialized, and the department came to offer more specific instruction. Edward Swift Dunster succeeded Sager in 1874 and oversaw the extension of Ob/Gyn lectures to a two-year course. Dunster saw his lectures as the basic foundation of medical education, but he was thwarted in his attempts to offer clinical instruction by the paucity of hospital births in Ann Arbor. James Nelson Martin, who came to head the department upon the death of Dunster in 1888, was similarly frustrated in his efforts to offer clinical experience to his interns.
It was not until the tenure of Reuben Peterson as chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (1901-1931) that clinical instruction came to be a meaningful, integral part of instruction to aspiring Ob/Gyns. The rise of this sort of clinical instruction at the University of Michigan postdates its general use in American medical education; this owes more to the small-town nature of Ann Arbor than to any hide-bound medical practices of medical professors. Even with Peterson's tireless lobbying for more clinical, hands-on experience in maternity wards, it was not until 1910 that the Ob/Gyn interns saw as many as 100 births in any one year. After establishing the importance of clinical instruction (and insuring its practical use), Peterson then worked to have the Maternity Hospital made safer from sepsis. He finally succeeded in 1925 when the Maternity Ward opened in the new University Hospital, thus temporarily fulfilling the department's long-standing needs.
After Peterson's retirement in 1931, Norman F. Miller headed the department until 1964. In 1950 Miller oversaw the department's move to the new Women's Hospital which at the time "provided all available facilities for obstetrics as well as gynecology." Once again, time and changing medical practices outstripped the existing plant. During the chairmanship of J. Robert Willson (1964-1978) gynecology was handled in the main hospital, the Holden Perinatal Center was established to deal with high-risk pregnancies and newborn intensive care cases, and the department affiliated with Wayne County General Hospital to insure that students would acquire sufficient clinical experience. In 1990 Women's Hospital was moved to a new building to meet the contemporary needs of patients and doctors.
For a more detailed history of the University of Michigan Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology consult Obstetrics, Gynecology and the University of Michigan , by Richard W. Stander and Warren H. Pearse (privately published c. 1967). For information on the department during the tenure of J. Robert Willson (1964-1978), consult Willson's 1992 account, "The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Michigan Medical School, 1964-1978," which is included with Willson's personal papers.
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1850 -
1874
:
Abram Sager
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1874 -
1888
:
Edward S. Dunster
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1888 -
1891
:
James N. Martin (acting)
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1891 -
1901
:
James N. Martin
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1901 -
1931
:
Rueben Peterson
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1931 -
1963
:
Norman F. Miller
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1964 -
1978
:
J. Robert Willson
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1978 -
1979
:
George Morley (interim)
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1979 -
1983
:
Alan Beer
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1983 -
1985
:
Rudi Ansbacher (acting)
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1985 -
1991
:
Preston V. Dilts
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1991 -
1993
:
Rudi Ansbacher (interim)
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1993 -
:
Timothy R.B. Johnson
From the guide to the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (University of Michigan) records, 1901-1995, 1935-1958, 1980-1990, (Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)
