Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Lois Whaley Highsmith, Lois Whaley Highsmith, Kelsey Duinkerken

Jefferson Nursing Oral Histories

After originally studying chemical engineering at Penn State, Lois Highsmith decided to instead pursue nursing. At Jefferson she found a passion for community health nursing, specifically related to obstetrics, gynecology, and maternal child health. Ms. Highsmith graduated in 1986 and over the years worked mostly in maternal care but also in psychology. Among other positions, she worked for ten years at Pennsylvania Hospital where she founded STEPS, Strategies to Encourage Parental Self-Sufficiency, a teen pregnancy clinic, and worked as a home visitor for Mercy Home Health educating new moms about postpartum care. Since 2002 she has worked for Nurse Family …

Vera Paoletti, Vera Paoletti, Kelsey Duinkerken

Jefferson Nursing Oral Histories

Vera Paoletti became interested in nursing as a teenager after watching a close family member succumb to leukemia. This experience led her to work as a candy striper at Jefferson Hospital through her high school years and then enroll in the Jefferson Hospital School of Nursing in 1966. Once she graduated in 1969 Ms. Paoletti began her career as a nurse at Jefferson, first in surgery on Ninth Pavilion and then in oncology on Eleventh Pavilion before becoming head nurse first of a nineteen-bed unit reserved for VIPs and then two years later of Sixth Main. In 1975 she left …

Joan Walker Randolph, Joan Walker Randolph, Kelsey Duinkerken

Jefferson Nursing Oral Histories

Joan Randolph is a 1956 graduate of the Jefferson School of Nursing’s Diploma Program. Though she enjoyed all of her nursing rotations as a student, upon graduation she decided to go into medical-surgical nursing, starting her career at Jefferson Hospital working with, among others, Dr. John Gibbon. After leaving Jefferson, Ms. Randolph spent the bulk of her career at Jeanes Hospital, where she worked her way up from staff nurse to head nurse and eventually on to Vice President of Patient Care Services. Though now retired Ms. Randolph continues to be involved with the field of nursing by serving on …

Colleen Young Elwood, Colleen Young Elwood, Kelsey Duinkerken

Jefferson Nursing Oral Histories

Colleen Young Elwood discovered her interest in nursing after finishing a Bachelor’s of Science in psychology and starting her career at Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Learning about diabetes and working with diabetics sparked an interest in public and community health so she enrolled in Thomas Jefferson University’s two-year BSN program, which she graduated from in 2013. While at Jefferson her clinical experiences confirmed she was not interested in hospital nursing but instead in community nursing. After graduating she started working at Nurse Family Partnership, first as an intern and then as a Nurse-Home Visitor, where she helps new mothers during …

Grace Spena, Grace Spena, Kelsey Duinkerken

Jefferson Nursing Oral Histories

Grace Spena grew up with an interest in health sciences, first wanting to be a medical laboratory technologist and later a registered nurse after attending an open house on nursing at Saint Agnes Hospital, where she volunteered as a teenager. Upon completing her education in 1971 from the Jefferson Diploma School of Nursing, Ms. Spena began her career as a Staff Nurse in the Surgical ICU at Jefferson Hospital. She then went to Medical College of Pennsylvania, working as a Staff Nurse in the combined Medical/Surgical ICU and later as the Head Nurse of the 3 West Medical/Surgical unit. After …

Eileen Healy Garrity, Eileen Healy Garrity, Kelsey Duinkerken

Jefferson Nursing Oral Histories

Eileen Garrity’s first draw to the medical field came through her interest in Christiaan Barnard’s work as a cardiac surgeon. After deciding to pursue nursing instead of medicine, Ms. Garrity entered the Jefferson School of Nursing’s Diploma program, graduating in 1976. She began her career as an ER and ICU nurse, working at Atlantic City Medical Center, Pennsylvania Hospital, and Mercy Fitzgerald. She eventually left hospital nursing to work at Blue Cross, ending there as the manager of their risk programs department before moving on to Taylor Hospital as a director of social work case management and later manager of …

Breanne Ward, Breanne Ward, Kelsey Duinkerken

Jefferson Nursing Oral Histories

Though she originally decided to become an accountant during college, Breanne Ward soon realized she would rather be in a field where she could work more closely with people. She chose nursing because she wanted the opportunity to physically care for others. Ms. Ward was accepted as a nursing student in Jefferson’s Full-time Accelerated Coursework Track (FACT) program, during which time she discovered an interest in community health through both her non-hospital clinical experiences and volunteering with Jeff HEALTH (Helping East Africa Link To Health). After working in the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and completing her Master’s in Community Systems …

Pat Owens, Pat Owens, Kelsey Duinkerken

Jefferson Nursing Oral Histories

From a young age Pat Owens had a strong interest in nursing, and as a high school student she was even the President of her school’s Future Nurses Club. However, she also really liked home economics so when she went to college she decided to pursue home economics rather than nursing. After working as at the Dairy Council as a nutrition consultant and later at Campbell’s Soup in their test kitchen, Ms. Owens decided that she wanted to instead pursue a career in nursing. After looking into different programs in the Philadelphia area, she chose Jefferson, entering in 1990 and …

Mary Greenwood Schaal, Mary Greenwood Schaal, Kelsey Duinkerken

Jefferson Nursing Oral Histories

Dr. Schaal graduated from Jefferson’s Nursing Diploma Program in 1963 and received her BSN from Jefferson in 1981. Though she started her career as an operating room nurse she soon discovered an interest in public health. After coming back to Jefferson for her Bachelor’s degree and then going on to the University of Pennsylvania for her Master’s degree and Rutgers for her Doctorate, she began teaching Community Health to nursing students at Rutgers in Camden. Dr. Schaal then went on to teach in MCP Hahnemann’s graduate program, which is now Drexel, before coming back to Thomas Jefferson University and ending …

Aileen Ishuin Macmillan, Aileen Ishuin Macmillan, Kelsey Duinkerken

Jefferson Nursing Oral Histories

Aileen Ishuin MacMillan did not grow up wanting to be a nurse, but after two years of college in Montclair not knowing what she wanted to do, Ms. MacMillan decided by chance to pursue nursing at Jefferson. After graduating in 1976 from the Diploma program she took a job as a nurse in the maternity ward of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. During her forty year career at Jefferson Ms. MacMillan also completed her BSN at Gwynedd Mercy University. She remains very involved in Jefferson Nursing, serving on both the Jefferson Nursing College Alumni Board and, as president, on the Diploma …

Karen Jordan, Karen Jordan, Kelsey Duinkerken

Jefferson Nursing Oral Histories

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Karen Jordan was a member of the civil rights movement in Philadelphia during the 1960s, first becoming involved with the fight to desegregate Girard College. After a semester at Cheyney University Ms. Jordan took time away from school before deciding to study nursing. She enrolled in the Jefferson Diploma Nursing program in 1973 and graduated in 1976. She would later go on to also receive her Bachelor’s in Nursing Science, also from Thomas Jefferson University. Ms. Jordan has spent her long career at Jefferson working as a medical-surgical, oncology, and neonatal nurse. In her free …

Mary Woltemate Stec, Mary Woltemate Stec, Kelsey Duinkerken

Jefferson Nursing Oral Histories

Dr. Stec began her nursing career in 1973 as a graduate of Jefferson’s Nursing Diploma School. She would go on to receive her BS in Nursing from the University of Pennsylvania, her MSN from Gwynedd Mercy College, and her PhD in Nursing from Widener University. Dr. Stec has spent the majority of her career as a nursing educator, including as an instructor at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital School of Nursing, Gwynedd Mercy College, and Abington Memorial Hospital Dixon School of Nursing. She is now an Assistant Professor at Temple University. She is also a Certified Nurse Educator, an Evaluator for …

Katherine Kingsley Kinsey, Katherine Kingsley Kinsey, Kelsey Duinkerken

Jefferson Nursing Oral Histories

Dr. Kinsey received her nursing diploma from the Jefferson Hospital School of Nursing in 1963 and later a BS in Education and School Health from Millersville University. She also has a BS in Nursing, Magna Cum Laude, a MS in Nursing in Community Health, and a PhD in Education, all from the University of Pennsylvania. She currently serves as the Nurse Administrator and Principal Investigator for the Philadelphia Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP), the Mabel Morris Family Home Visit Program (MM), and other early childhood initiatives. Previously, Dr. Kinsey was a tenured professor at La Salle University School of Nursing where she …

Dr. John H. Gibbon, Jr. And Jefferson's Heart-Lung Machine: Commemoration Of The World's First Successful Bypass Surgery, F. Michael Angelo

Posters: Jefferson History

On May 6, 1953 at Jefferson Medical College Hospital, Dr. John Heysham Gibbon, Jr., his staff, and with the help of his latest-designed heart-lung machine, “Model II,” closed a very serious septal defect between the upper chambers of the heart of eighteen-year-old Cecelia Bavolek. This was the first successful intercardiac surgery of its kind performed on a human patient. Ms. Bavolek was connected to the device for three-quarters of an hour and for 26 crucial minutes, the patient totally depended upon the machine’s artificial cardiac and respiratory functions. “Jack” Gibbon did not follow this epoch-making event by holding an international …

African American Graduates Of Jefferson Medical College: The First Hundred Years, F. Michael Angelo

Posters: Jefferson History

Beginnings…

The story of early African American physicians begins in 18th century Philadelphia with James Derham who is recognized as the first black allopathic (regular, non-sectarian) medical doctor. The first medical school in the U.S. to admit an African American was Rush Medical College in Chicago that awarded, in 1847, David J. Peck his degree. Dr. Peck came to the “Quaker City” to set up his practice the same year that the A.M.A. was formed, also here in Philadelphia. In 1877, Jefferson doctors protested the seating of the delegates from Howard University, the nation’s most important black medical school, in …

United States Medicine, Women And Jefferson Medical College, F. Michael Angelo

Posters: Jefferson History

Timeline of women at Jefferson Medical College.

Latin Heritage Month. Carlos Juan Finlay: Outrageous, Courageous And Correct, Dorothy E. Berenbrok

Posters: Jefferson History

In 1855, a modest Cuban physician named Carlos Juan Finlay graduated from Jefferson Medical College. He was among JMC’s first dozen Hispanic graduates, initially signing the registrar’s log as “Charles”. He left Philadelphia at the age of 22 to begin private practice. Preceptor and close friend S. Weir Mitchell, among others, urged Finlay to work among the burgeoning Spanishspeaking population in New York City, but he returned to Cuba and set up practice in Matanzas, a town near Havana. He took a binocular microscope with him, similar to one used byMitchell, which would serve him well for many years.

During …

Patricia Maro Dehart, Patricia Maro Dehart, Kelsey Duinkerken

Jefferson Nursing Oral Histories

Patricia Maro DeHart first became interested in nursing in high school when she first volunteered, and later worked, as a nurses’ aide in a local nursing home. She decided to attend Jefferson’s Diploma Nursing program and graduated in 1977. After starting her career in medical surgery at West Jersey Hospital she then worked as an OB-GYN nurse at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital for eleven years. As her career progressed she moved to Bristol-Myers Squibb, where she held a number of varied positions that allowed her to combine both her degrees in nursing and business, including as account executive and government …

How A Civil War Surgeon’S Population Health Initiatives Helped Save The Union, 2lt Tyler Walker

CwiC Posters

Introduction

Dr. Jonathan Letterman was the medical director for the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. Dr. Letterman graduated from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia in 1849. With his appointment to the largest portion of the Union Army, Dr. Letterman was tasked with improving what would today be called a population health nightmare. Soldiers lived in filth, ate food devoid of nutrition, were forced to train beyond what was necessary no matter the conditions, and worst of all, were not provided with an organized medical department to treat them if they were wounded or became ill. He …

Stella Jedrziewski Wawrynovic, Genevieve Jedrziewski Williams, Kelsey Duinkerken

Jefferson Nursing Oral Histories

This oral history was completed with Genevieve (Jenny) Williams about her older sister Stella Jedrziewski Wawrynovic, a 1940 graduate of Jefferson's Nursing Training School.

Stella Jedrziewski Wawrynovic was born in Osceola Mills, Pennsylvania to Polish immigrants. Her parents championed the importance of education for all of their children, and so when the oldest daughter Stella graduated from high school in 1936 she moved to Philadelphia to pursue a nursing degree at Jefferson's Nursing School. She began her career at Jefferson before joining the Army during WWII to work as a nurse. After the war she returned to Jefferson, where she …

The Board Of Trustees: An Indispensable Asset, Frederick B. Wagner, Jr.

Jefferson History Books

A history of Thomas Jefferson University's Board of Trustees, from 1826-1994.

Notes On Practice Of Medicine, From Prof. Da Costa's Lectures, At The Jefferson Medical College, During Sessions Of [18]84-85 And [18]85-86, William H.E. Wehner

Medical Student and Faculty Lecture Notes

Notes from the lectures of Jacob Mendes Da Costa taken by 1887 graduate of Jefferson Medical College William W. H. Wehner. Jacob Mendes Da Costa served in the U.S. Army during the American Civil War and undertook research on "irritable heart" (neurocirculatory asthenia) in soldiers, research that was of landmark importance in clinical medicine. After the Civil War, Da Costa continued his teaching at the Pennsylvania Hospital (1865-1900). He began at Jefferson Medical College as a lecturer on clinical medicine (1866-1872), then professor of theory and practice of medicine (1872-1891), and finally professor emeritus (1891-1900). While Da Costa retired in …

College And Clinical Record, Richard J. Dunglison, Frank Woodbury

College and Clinical Record

Published from 1880-1899, the College and Clinical Record was a monthly medical journal put out by Jefferson Medical College students and graduates. It commonly included printed lectures, conference proceedings, original articles, reminiscences, obituaries notices, marriage announcements, and college news. According to its first publication, "The CLINICAL RECORD has been instituted more particularly for the purpose of conveying to those interested the most reliable intelligence of current affairs at the Jefferson Medical College, and of furnishing a means of intercourse between graduates of the school... It is especially intended to impart to the graduates and students of the College accurate and …

The Throat And The Voice: The Complete Text, Jacob Solis Cohen M.D.

The Throat and the Voice, by J. Solis Cohen, M.D. 1879

The complete text of the 1879 volume, by J. Solis Cohen, M.D. Solis Cohen was a pioneer in laryngeal surgery and Lecturer on Laryngology and Diseases of the Chest at Jefferson Medical College from 1867-1927. 159 pages.

Is Puerperal Fever Contagious?, John S. Lewis

Jefferson Medical College Theses

No abstract provided.

An Essay On Entero-Mesenteric Of Typhoid Fever By William H. Seip Of Pennsylvania. Presented To The Faculty Of Jefferson Medical College For The Degree Of Doctor Of Medicine At The Coming Commencement, In March 1859., William H. Seip

Jefferson Medical College Theses

No abstract provided.

History Of The Jefferson Medical College Of Philadelphia With Biographical Sketches Of The Early Professors, James F. Gayley

Jefferson History Books

This 1858 history was written by James Fife Gayley, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. It includes a brief history of Jefferson Medical College up until that period, biographical sketches for eleven faculty members, a list of JMC graduates from 1826-1858, and various engravings.

Obstetrics: The Science And The Art - Preliminary Observations, Classification Of Subjects, And Cuvier's Idea Of A Method

Obstetrics: The Science and The Art, by Charles D. Meigs, M.D.

No abstract provided.

Obstetrics: The Science And The Art - Part I. Anatomy Of The Parts Concerned In Reproduction; Chapter Iii. Of The Child's Head And Other Presenting Parts

Obstetrics: The Science and The Art, by Charles D. Meigs, M.D.

No abstract provided.

Obstetrics: The Science And The Art - Part I. Anatomy Of The Parts Concerned In Reproduction; Chapter Iv. The External Organs

Obstetrics: The Science and The Art, by Charles D. Meigs, M.D.

No abstract provided.