Harvey Cushing at Johns Hopkins

Abstract

Harvey Cushing began surgical training with William Halsted at Johns Hopkins in 1896. Cushing joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 1900 and spent 1 year in Europe in the laboratory of Theodore Kocher. He returned to Johns Hopkins, where he founded neurosurgery as an independent specialty, established the concept of the clinician scientist, discovered the hormonal properties of the pituitary gland and founded endocrinology, introduced intraoperative x-rays into surgical practice, introduced blood pressure monitoring into the operating room, and wrote the first definitive text on neurosurgery. Although there have been many pioneers in our field, Cushing, more than anyone else, developed neurosurgery as a specialty and left a legacy of talented neurosurgeons to develop and expand the field.