History of Jefferson Neurology

  In 1825, Jefferson became the first medical college in the country to establish a clinic. Standard
  medical school curricula then consisted solely of lectures, making Jefferson an innovator in
  combining patient care with formal education.  By 1877, the clinic had become the Jefferson
  Medical College Hospital, the second hospital In the United States to be directly associated with a
  medical school. 

  Neurology has had a long tradition at Jefferson Medical College, going back to at least 1831.  It is
  also proud to have the first division of Neurology established in the United States.

          1898 College Building, Jefferson Medical College – exterior, ca. 1907-1915

          McCrae clinic, Jefferson Medical College Hospital, December 1915

Student lectures on nervous diseases were provided by a number of individuals over the years; these included Drs. John K. Mitchell, James A. Meigs, and Robert Bartholow; the latter was elected President of the American Neurological Association in 1881. In 1892 Dr. Francis X. Dercum was appointed Clinical Professor of Nervous Diseases and, in 1900, Professor of Nervous and Mental Diseases. Dercum, elected President of the American Neurological Association in 1886, worked closely with pioneer neurosurgeons of the day, personified by Dr. W. W. Keen, a close associate of Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, himself an 1852 graduate of Jefferson and widely regarded as the father of American neurology.

Dr. Dercum was followed as Chair by Dr. Edward Strecker, and ultimately in 1938 by Dr. Bernard Alpers, a leading clinician, educator and neuropathologist of international renown during the middle years of the 20th century. Among faculty members at that time was Dr. Francis M. Forster, one of the founders of the American Academy of Neurology (1949).

In 1940, neurology at Jefferson was split off from psychiatry as an independent department, and has continued to flourish since under a series of leaders, culminating with the appointment of Dr. A. M. Rostami as Chair in 2003.   

                                  Jefferson Hospital for Neurosciences
                               

First leaders and Chairmen of Jefferson Neurology:

Francis X. Dercum, M.D. (1900-1925) Professor of Nervous and Mental Diseases

Edward A. Strecker, M.D. (1925-1931) Professor of Nervous and Mental Diseases

Neurology Department established in 1934.

Michael A. Burns, M.D. (1934-1938) Chairman

Bernard J. Alpers, M.D. (1938-1965) Chairman

Richard A. Chambers, M.D. (1965-1983)  Chairman

Robert J. Schwartzman, M.D. (1983-1995) Chairman

Fred D. Lublin, M.D. (1995-1996) Acting Chairman

Rodney D. Bell, M.D. (1996-1997) Acting Chairman

Elliott L. Mancall, M.D. (1997-2003) Interim Chairman

A.M. Rostami, M.D., Ph.D. (2003-     ) Chairman