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Highlights of the Department of Surgery at the University of Iowa include its founding and key individuals, notable innovations and medical advancements, the introduction of new surgical programs, major expansions in facilities and staff, and modern-era achievements.
1870
1870The University of Iowa Medical Department begins offering classes in medical education. Eight physicians served as the faculty—including Washington Freeman Peck, who served as dean and chair of surgery.
1873
1873Patient care service begins in collaboration with the Sisters of Mercy Catholic order.
1898
1898A new University Hospital opens—the first university-based teaching hospital west of the Mississippi.
1919
1919A children’s hospital opens west of the Iowa River.
1928
1928The seven-story, 900-bed General Hospital opens—firmly establishing a westside medical campus and marking the beginning of UI Hospitals & Clinics.
1956
1956Johann Ehrenhaft develops one of the first heart-lung machines to circulate, oxygenate, and filter blood during open heart surgery procedures.
1967
1967Edward Mason describes gastric bypass surgery as a treatment for morbid obesity, ushering in the modern era of bariatric surgery.
1969
1969Richard Lawton performs Iowa’s first kidney transplant procedure. Lawton also performs the first kidney dialysis in Iowa (in 1957 at the Iowa City Veterans Affairs Medical Center). Lawton later establishes the Iowa Donor Network.
1979
1979The first pancreas transplant in Iowa is led by faculty members Robert Corry, Dai Nghiem, and James Schulak—paving the way for the development of liver and pancreas transplant programs at Iowa in early 1980s.
1980
1980Edward Mason and colleagues develop one of the most common surgical treatments for severe obesity, known as vertical banded gastroplasty.
1984
1984The university establishes the unique Undergraduate Scholar Assistantship Program, which permits top undergraduates to do research with senior faculty.
1984
1984First liver transplant at Iowa. The transplant team is led by faculty members Robert Corry, Dai Nghiem, and James Schulak.
1985
1985First heart transplant at Iowa. The heart transplant team is led by faculty members Loren Hiratzka, Ronald Meng, and Maryl Johnson.
1987
1987A 7-day-old infant receives a heart transplant, performed by Doug Behrendt, as Iowa’s first pediatric heart transplant procedure.
1988
1988David Kapelanski performs the first lung transplant and heart-lung transplant procedure in Iowa.
1992
1992Youmin Wu performs Iowa’s first pediatric liver transplant.
1995
1995Carol E.H. Scott-Conner—the second female head of a surgery department in the United States—arrives at Iowa.
1996
1996UI Health Care’s Burn Treatment Center is verified by the American Burn Association. The center is one of 77 nationwide, and the only one in Iowa, to earn this distinction.
1997
1997The American College of Surgeons designates UI Health Care as a Level 1 Adult and Pediatric Trauma Center, one of three in the state of Iowa.
2005
2005John Meehan performs a minimally invasive robotic surgery to repair a congenital diaphragmatic hernia on a 6-day-old Iowa girl. At the time, the child is the smallest patient in the world to undergo a robotic surgery procedure.
2018
2018Ronald J. Weigel is elected to the National Academy of Medicine. The academy elects no more than 70 national and 10 international members annually.
2018
2018Mohammad Bashir performs the first minimally invasive, catheter-based tricuspid valve repair in Iowa.
2022
2022UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital is named a Level 1 Pediatric Surgery Center by the American College of Surgeons. At the time, only 42 children’s hospitals nationwide had received this designation.