[XVII] 



HUMAN DISSECTION IN THE MIDDLE 

 ATLANTIC STATES 



Xwo of the biggest centers of medical education in the United 

 States have been in Philadelphia and New York City. Probably 

 more is known of the early history of the former. 



A. The University of Pennsylvania— A.D. 1750 to 1958 



Philadelphia was the scene of the first course given in anatomy 

 in America (1745-1751). The lecturer was Thomas Cadwallader, 

 but it is unknown whether he employed cadavers for demonstra- 

 tion. 



William Shippen, Jr. (1736-1808) was a figure who stood out 

 in the early history of anatomical dissection in Philadelphia. It 

 was he who, at the age of twenty-nine, became the Head and 

 Professor of Anatomy and Surgery at the University of Pennsyl- 

 vania School of Medicine, the pioneering medical school in the 

 United States (1765). He prepared himself for this position by 

 training under John and William Hunter in London in 1761 

 and teaching anatomical courses in Philadelphia between 1762 

 and 1765. 



After training under the Hunters in London, Shippen re- 

 turned to Philadelphia and started teaching what has been called 

 the first systematic anatomy course in North America. An an- 

 nouncement of his proposed instruction, appeared in the Pennsyl- 

 vania Gazette on November 11, 1762. On the 16th, he gave an in- 

 troductory address at the State House, which was well-attended 

 by the intelligentsia of the city; subsequent lectures (1762-1765) 

 were given in a private laboratory in his father's house. His 

 course was a landmark in anatomical history in the United 

 States for he was the first to teach in true Hunterian style, in- 



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