The History of Emory University School of Medicine and the Department of Medicine

(Adapted from: JW Hurst: “The Quest for Excellence”)

The School of Medicine

Emory University School of Medicine opened its doors on June 28th, 1915. From 1915 to 1917, the entire School of Medicine was located in a building formerly used by the Atlanta College of Medicine, which was located across the street from the relatively new Grady Memorial Hospital. In 1917, the basic sciences departments moved to the Emory campus in Druid Hills. However, there was no hospital on the Druid Hills campus until 1922 when the new Wesley Memorial Hospital was completed (its name was changed in 1932 to Emory University Hospital), and thus the clinical departments and the Dean’s office remained at the Grady campus. When the new hospital was completed on the Druid Hills campus, Emory effectively had a “split campus”. Emory faculty became skilled at dealing with split campuses. In the years ahead, Emory University School of Medicine was destined to include four additional hospitals, a large clinic and numerous satellite clinics under its umbrella.

The Department of Medicine

The first Chairman of the Department of Medicine was Dr. W.S. Kendrick from 1915 to 1918. He was followed by Dr. Cyrus Strickler (1918 – 1926), Dr. J. Edgar Paullin (1926 – 1931) and Dr. Russell Oppenheimer (1931 – 1941). However, all these physicians had many other responsibilities and it wasn’t until 1942 that the Department of Medicine had its first full-time chair: Dr. Eugene A. Stead, Jr.

Eugene A. Stead, Jr., M.D. (1942 – 1946)

Eugene Stead was born in Decatur, Georgia on October 6, 1908 and graduated from Emory University School of Medicine in 1932. He arranged the department’s teaching program at Grady and centered clinical teaching on the patient. In his book “E.A. Stead Jr.” he writes: “…We would teach from the patients and attach knowledge already acquired to the particular patient the student was caring for. The student would re-investigate those phases of the basic sciences, which applied to the same patient. The patient would be the stimulus for learning, because this stimulus would last as long as the student practiced medicine. The student learned to work for the fun of learning and to give his patients good care.” It should also be noted that the first diagnostic use of the cardiac catheter took place in Stead’s cardiac catheterization laboratory at Grady . Dr. Stead left Emory to become Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Duke University on January 1st, 1947. During his tenure at Emory, he recruited a group of brilliant teachers and investigators. One of them, Dr. Paul Beeson, would become the new Chairman of the Department.

Paul Beeson, M.D. (1947 – 1952)

Paul Beeson was born in Livingston, Montana on October 18, 1908 and graduated from McGill University in Montreal, Canada in 1932. He was recruited by Dr. Stead to come to Emory as the “infectious diseases man” in 1942 and he became the

only physician in the southeastern United States who had a special expertise in infectious diseases. His contributions to medicine were many, but noteworthy was the fact that he first recognized and described post-transfusion hepatitis while working at Grady . He also began his study of infective endocarditis and was the first person to administer penicillin at Grady when the drug became available in 1943. Dr. Beeson became the Chair of the Department of Medicine in 1944 and remained in that post until 1952 when he left Emory to become Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Yale.

J. Willis Hurst, M.D. (1957 – 1986)

John Willis Hurst was born in Cooper, Kentucky on October 21, 1920 and obtained his MD degree from the University of Georgia School of Medicine in 1944. His postgraduate training culminated with a cardiac fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital under Dr. Paul Dudley White. In 1949, he returned to Atlanta where he entered private practice as one of the few cardiologists in the city. In 1950 Dr. Beeson invited him to join the Emory faculty, an offer that he gladly accepted. In 1957 Dr. Hurst was appointed Chairman of the Department at the age of thirty-six. Dr. Hurst gave up the Chair of Medicine on September 1, 1986 having served as chairman for 29 years. Dr. Hurst is a prolific writer having edited fifty-seven books including “The Heart” and over 300 scientific articles. His legacy to Emory is extensive but perhaps Dr. Bruce Logue best sums it up when he stated: “I think Willis is the greatest teacher of cardiology in the world in the last thirty years. I don’t know anyone who has equated his teaching ability. He has total recall. He is totally invested in medicine, patients, and patient care”. Dr. Hurst continues to be an active teacher, conducting cardiology morning report at Emory University Hospital, teaching electrocardiography to the housestaff and giving clinical conferences at Crawford W. Long Hospital and Grady Memorial Hospital. In 2002, Dr. R. Wayne Alexander named the Department of Medicine Residency Program the Hurst Housestaff Training Program in his honor.

Juha P. Kokko, M.D., Ph.D. (1986 – 1999)

Nationally and internationally recognized for his studies on kidney function and why the kidney may work poorly or not at all, Juha P. Kokko, MD PhD has achieved much success throughout his career. His many accomplishments and awards include President of the American Society of Nephrology, Distinguished University Decoration from the University of Helsinki, and Founders Medal from the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation. In the area of publishing, he has authored more than 100 original works in journals, which meet the highest peer review standards. Along with Dr. Richard Tannen, Dr. Kokko is the co-editor of Fluids and Electrolytes (now in its third edition), the definitive book in the field. He is one of five consulting editors on the 20th edition of Cecil’s Textbook of Medicine, one of the most widely used references by physicians.

Although Dr. Kokko is a native of Finland, he considered his appointment as Chairman of the Department of Medicine in 1986 a homecoming, as he was the first student to graduate from Emory’s combined MD/PhD program in 1964. After his graduation, Dr. Kokko began his internship in Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospitals. After completing both his internship and residency on the Osler Service at Johns Hopkins, he was appointed Clinical Associate and Chief Resident of the National Heart Institute at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. In 1969, he joined the Department of Medicine at the University of Texas-Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. Within five years he rose through the academic ranks to become Professor of Internal Medicine and Director of the Division of Nephrology.

Dr. Kokko’s long-standing interest and commitment to medical research is evident by his success in training over 100 postdoctoral fellows, many of whom are now directors of divisions of nephrology at other prestigious universities. As immediate past Chair of the Department of Medicine, the largest department in the University, he developed a nationally prominent research base to complement the excellent clinical care for which the Department of Medicine is recognized. He recently assumed the position of Associate Dean for Clinical Research. Most recently, he has spearheaded efforts to establish a General Clinical Research Center at Grady Hospital.

Dr. Kokko continues to provide outstanding teaching and mentorship for the residents. His weekly case conference, “Kokko Conference” at Grady Hospital was the highest rated resident conference in the Emory system in 2002. In addition to conferences, bedside rounds, and attending at Grady Hospital, Dr. Kokko presides over noon conferences at Emory University Hospital and Crawford Long Hospital. He has recently been appointed “Director of Resident Scholarship and Research” for the Emory Categorical Track.

(Dr. Juha Kokko, Dr. J. Willis Hurst, Dr. Wayne Alexander)

One of the few programs with one current and two past Chairs

actively involved in housestaff training.