ALICE McNEAL, M.D.
(1897-1964)
Alice McNeal was born in 1897 in Hinsdale, Illinois. She graduated from Rush Medical College in 1921 and during the next two years completed internships at Women's Hospital in Philadelphia and Durand Hospital. In 1925 she began a stretch of 21 years as Anesthesiologist and Instructor in Anesthesia at Presbyterian Hospital in Chicago, where she worked with Dr. Isabella Herb. During this period she completed a residency in anesthesia under Dr. Huberta Livingstone in 1926 and a second residency in Hartford, Connecticut, under Dr. Ralph Tovell in 1938-1939. Dr. McNeal was certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology in 1941.
Dr. McNeal accepted the post of Chief of Anesthesia and Assistant Professor of Surgery at the new Medical College of Alabama in Birmingham in May, 1946. She was named chair of the newly-created Department of Anesthesiology in August, 1948, and remained in that position until her retirement in 1961. Dr. McNeal served as President of the Southern Society of Anesthesiologists in 1956-57. She laid the foundation for academic anesthesia in Alabama by chairing a new department for so long, providing excellent patient care, and training so many anesthesiologists, dentists and nurses in anesthesia administration. More information about Dr. McNeal's time in Birmingham can be found in the the department's timeline.
*Wright AJ. Stranger in a strange land: Alice McNeal and academic anesthesia in Alabama. Anesthesiology 83:A1025, 1995
DR. ALICE MCNEAL: ALABAMA'S FIRST FEMALE
ANESTHESIOLOGIST
A.J. Wright, M.L.S., Department of Anesthesiology Library, UA School of Medicine
In September 1945, the first class of students began their studies at the Medical College of Alabama in Birmingham. This four-year school had replaced a two-year program in Tuscaloosa, and thus students no longer needed to leave Alabama to obtain a medical degree. The demands of creating this school quickly and almost from scratch led Dean Roy Kracke to open a few opportunities for female physicians. When the school opened, Dr. Melson Barfield-Carter, an Alabama native who had practiced radiology in the city since 1929, was named Professor and Chair of the school's Radiology Department. Three years later, Dr. Alice McNeal became the second female department chair at the Medical College.
Alice McNeal was born in 1897 in Hinsdale, Illinois. She graduated from Rush Medical College in Chicago in 1921, and during the next two years completed internships at Women's Hospital in Philadelphia and Durand Hospital in Chicago. In 1925 she began a stretch of twenty-one years as Anesthesiologist and Instructor in Anesthesia at Presbyterian Hospital in Chicago. During this period she completed a residency in anesthesia under Huberta Livingstone in 1926 and a second residency under Ralph Tovell in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1938 and 1939. Dr. McNeal was certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology in 1941.
By early 1946, Dean Roy Kracke needed a Chief of Anesthesia for the hospital of the new medical school. Apparently John Adriani, a prominent anesthesiologist at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, was offered the position but declined. By May of that year Dean Kracke had persuaded Dr. McNeal to accept the post, and she arrived in Birmingham to become an Assistant Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Surgery Department's Anesthesia Division. In August 1948, Dr. McNeal was named Chair of the newly created Department of Anesthesiology and remained in that position until her retirement in 1961. Dr. McNeal committed suicide on December 31, 1964.
In October 1946 Dr. McNeal began organizing a School of Nurse Anesthetists at the hospital. In the spring of 1948 she was one of four founding members--and the only female--of the Alabama State Society of Anesthesiologists. As a result of her efforts, the department's residency program was certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology in February 1949. In that same year, under the auspices of the International Refugee Organization, Dr. McNeal made a nine-week trip to Munich, Germany, and lectured to some 150 local physicians on modern medical practices.
Thus Dr. McNeal's
professional career had two phases. At Presbyterian Hospital in Chicago, she
worked under Isabella Herb and with two other female anesthesiologists. By the
time she arrived in Alabama, she already had 21 years experience in anesthesia.
In her new home, she found herself to be not only one of the few female
physicians but one of the few physician-anesthesiologists in the state. She
coordinated anesthesia administration at the university's busy hospital
(formerly the county hospital in the state's most populous county) with help
from a few nurse anesthetists, an occasional resident, and sometimes a dental
student doing an anesthesia rotation. By 1950 her department coordinated 9700
anesthetics a year at the hospital. She is remembered fondly by those who knew
her; former UAB President Charles McCallum's comment that she was "a great
teacher, well-liked, and worked hard" is typical. Although she published
only a f research paper, Dr. McNeal laid the foundation for academic
anesthesia in the state by chairing the first department for so long, providing
excellent patient care and many clinical improvements, and training so many
anesthesiologists, dentists, and nurses. Dr. McNeal is thus an important figure
both in the history of the state's medical care and education but of its female physicians
as well.
References
Strickland RA. Isabella Coler Herb, MD: an early leader in anesthesiology. Anesth Analg 80(3):600-605, March 1995
Wright AJ. Stranger in a strange land: Alice McNeal and academic anesthesia in Alabama. Anesthesiology 83:A1025, 1995