Gastroenterology and hepatology as subspecialties

Gastroenterology grew as a subspecialty in Germany in the 19th century. In the 1880s and 1890s, Austrian and German clinics were attended by American physicians who, on returning to the U.S., founded the American Gastroenterological Association in 1897. The creation of a subspecialty board, however, had to wait until 1941. At The Mount Sinai Hospital, Dr. A.A. Berg was appointed Surgeon in 1899. His practice focused on the alimentary tract, which in 1910 became one of the four surgical specialties. In 1914, further subdivision led to the stomach and duodenum becoming additional specialties. In 1917, wards were endowed for Dr. Berg's specialty. The first Mount Sinai physician to have an interest in gastroenterology was Morris Manges, but the first to limit his practice to gastroenterology was Dr. Edward Aronson, for whom a specialist outpatient division was formed in 1913. Aronson died in 1922 and was succeeded by Dr. Burrill Crohn, who was followed in 1934 by Dr. Asher Winkelstein; all three collaborated closely with the surgeons, physiologists and biochemists. In 1958, Dr. Henry Janowitz became chief of the Division of Gastroenterology; he was succeeded in 1983 by Dr. David Sachar, who was followed in 1999 by his associate Dr. Steven Itzkowitz. In 1958 Dr. Fenton Schaffner became chief of the Division of Hepatology (now headed by Dr. Paul Berk), and in 1979 Dr. LeLeiko became chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology.