Aqualumni Tree

 

Dr. Ralph M. Waters (1883-1979) earned his medical degree in 1912, and by 1916 he had chosen to specialize in anesthesia. Postgraduate training opportunities were few, but he sought them out. In 1915 he took the course offered by Dr. Elmer I. McKesson (1881-1935) in Toledo, OH. In 1926, Dr. Waters studied under Dr. John S. Lundy (1893-1973) at the Mayo Clinic. At the invitation of the surgeon Erwin R. Schmidt (1890-1961), 

Dr. Waters joined the medical faculty of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, in 1927. There he founded the world’s first postgraduate academic residency program in anesthesiology

                                        Worlds First Residency Program In Anesthesia 

1. Founder of the First Academic Department of Anesthesiology

• In 1927, at the University of Wisconsin (Madison), Dr. Waters established the world’s first academic department of anesthesia.

• He emphasized that anesthesiology was not just a technical service but a scientific medical discipline requiring training, research, and continuous improvement.

2. Training and Education

• Developed the first residency training program in anesthesiology.

• Many of his trainees became pioneers in the field — they were fondly called the “Waters’ boys.”

                                                             Aqualumni Tree 

                                                        University of Wisconsin (Madison)

Dr. Waters’ residents called themselves “the Aqualumni”. Many of them went on to become leaders of the specialty, and several founded new residency programs, themselves. The tradition continued as many of their own trainees founded yet more academic programs. This lineage is represented in the “Aqualumni Tree”,

                                                                      

                                                                  Current Events

#InternationalReligiousFreedomDay, which celebrates the signing of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1988 (IRFA) and highlights the importance of religious protection in American policy. The act also created the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). 

                                                  Religious Protection In American Policy

                                                                            Snapshot 

This tree depicts the names of chairpersons or heads of academic Anesthesia centers that came from the lineage of the world’s first postgraduate academic residency program in anesthesiology led by Dr Ralph Waters at the University of Wisconsin.