Neurosurgery at the University of Virginia

Before 1937, members of the Department of Surgery and Gynecology practiced emergency neurosurgery at the University of Virginia in the same fashion as in other hospitals in the United States. In 1937, Claude C. Coleman, Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, organized a Division of Neurosurgery as part of the Department of Surgery and Gynecology at the University of Virginia. He designated one of his staff members, John M. Meredith, as Neurosurgeon-in-charge. Dr. Coleman served as Clinical Professor of Neurological Surgery at the University of Virginia from 1937 to 1941, while also working in Richmond. This arrangement attracted increasing numbers of patients, leading to the formation of a separate department, under the direction of William Gayle Crutchfield, in 1941. In conjunction with Juan de Dios Martinez-Galindo, who joined the faculty in 1943, Dr. Crutchfield built and directed the neurosurgical training program until his retirement. In 1969, John A. Jane, Sr., became Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery. Pursuing the Jeffersonian intent of attracting "... those of due degree of science and of talents for instruction," the Department has been enhanced by the arrival of Neal F. Kassell in 1984, Ladislau Steiner in 1987, Edward R. Laws, Jr., in 1992, Dheerendra Prasad in 1995, Gregory Helm in 1996, and Mark Shaffrey in 1997. Resident training has been a priority of the Department of Neurosurgery; many academic neurosurgeons were trained and practiced their specialty in the Department early in their careers. Sixty years after its foundation, the Department of Neurosurgery continues its commitment to patient care, research, and the "... instruction of those who come after us."