Institutional Profile Department of Surgery/College of Medicine University of South Alabama: Historical and Contemporaneous Perspectives WILLIAM O. RICHARDS, M.D., ARNOLD LUTERMAN, M.D.C.M., JON D. SIMMONS, M.D., CHARLES B. RODNING, M.D., PH.D. From the Department of Surgery, College of Medicine and Medical Center, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama Many members of the medical profession in Mobile, Alabama, have exemplified a strong com- mitment to the education of their colleagues and successors, a tradition (L., traditio, ‘‘to hand over’’) that dates from the early 18th century. The Mobile General (city/county) Hospital (1830 to 1970) and its successor, the Medical Center, University of South Alabama (1971 to the present), were the institutional foci of those endeavors. Because it is individuals who create, design, and vitalize institutions, this monograph is an acknowledgment of the accomplishments of those who gave that endeavor purpose, direction, and meaning, particularly with reference to the evolution of surgical education. Numerous clinical and societal forces—cultural, economic, political, and social—influenced that evolution. This compilation gives attribution to a legacy of commitment to health and medical/surgical care, education, and research within southern Alabama. ‘‘ T HE NOBLE PRIVILEGE of history is to mend the injuries to time and injustices of men; to distin- guish the good from the bad amid the debris of an- tiquity; to render justice to each according to his merits; to look for the cause of social or intellectual revolutions and to observe the consequences; to characterize the mind of man; to become acquainted with heroes or victims; and, above all, to profit from experience of times past, in the present, and in the centuries to come.’’ Preface ´ , 1 Oeuvres... de Galien (1854), Charles V. Daremberg (1817 to 1872) The leaders of the medical profession in Mobile, Alabama, during the early to mid-19th century were an extraordinary group of well-educated, cultured, eru- dite, and lofty-minded men. They were appalled by the proliferation of unregulated proprietary ‘‘medical schools,’’ the sale of patent medicines and devices, and unscrutinized ‘‘medical’’ practices. They stalwartly opposed nonscientific and nontraditional treatment philosophies such as chiropractics, eclectic medicine, homeopathy, and naturopathy. 2–8 Consequently, under the leadership of Drs. R. L. Fearn, H. S. Levert, S. Mordecai, J. C. Nott, and J. H. Woodcock, they: d promoted construction of the Mobile General (city/county) Hospital between 1830 and 1832, in the Federal and Greek Revival architectural style, at the corner of Broad and Saint Anthony Streets; d founded the first Medical Society (1839 to 1841) within the state of Alabama, and that Charter was the paradigm for the Charter of the Medical As- sociation of the State of Alabama (1847) 9 ; d scrutinized the practice of medicine within the local community, which included establishment of standardized fees; d initiated the first Board of Health/City of Mobile (1841) within the state of Alabama, predominantly in response to the incidence and prevalence of en- demic and epidemic infectious diseases (malaria, variola, yellow fever); and that Charter served as the precedent for the Charter of the entire Public Health System for the state of Alabama (1875 to 1879) by Dr. Jerome Cochran (1811 to 1895); d fostered involvement of enlightened civic organi- zations such as the Can’t-Get-Away Club (1839 to 1897) to raise money and provide care for the afflicted, particularly during infectious disease epidemics; and Address correspondence and reprint requests to Charles B. Rodning, M.D., Ph.D., 2451 Fillingim Street, Mobile, AL 36617. E-mail: crodning@health.southalabama.edu. 423