VOLUME 35, ISSUE 1
Russell K. McAllister, M.D., FASA
TSA Newsletter Editor-in-Chief / Academics Editor
Clinical Professor and Chair of Anesthesiology
Baylor Scott & White Health Central Division
Texas A&M College of Medicine
Temple, TX
Alan C. Farrow-Gillespie, M.D.
Professor, UT Southwestern Medical Center
Dallas, TX
On the Shoulders of Giants: Legends of Texas Anesthesiology
Charles H. Gillespie, M.D.
Scott & White Memorial Hospital
Dr. Charles Gillespie was born in 1914 and raised in the small central Texas town of Bartlett, just northeast of Austin. He grew up on a rural farm during the depression era and milked cows most mornings before going to school. In spite of pressure from his family to become a preacher, he sought out a medical career and enrolled at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, graduating in 1940. He was an internal medicine resident at Scott and White Hospital when the bombing of Pearl Harbor occurred and, soon afterwards, enlisted in the Army. According to reports, within 5 minutes of reporting for duty at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, he was told “they didn’t any more internists, they needed anesthesiologists.” He explained to them that he had little knowledge of the specialty. He said they told him, “We’ll teach you.” Thus, he became the first trainee in the Brooke Army Medical Center anesthesiology training program. At that time, World War II was in full swing and he served in the United States Army Medical Corps with the rank of Captain. He was part of one of the first teams to develop the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (M.A.S.H.) units and, in 1944, served in a rapid response neurosurgical team supporting the D-Day invasion at Normandy and at M.A.S.H. units throughout the European theater. In an interview for an article in Texas Medicine, Dr. Gillespie recalled his memories of the battles raging outside the medical tents where they were operating. He said, “We got reports on the progress of the battle and, of course, we could hear the firing. But we were so cotton-picking busy, we didn’t worry too much about what was going on out there. The hospitals were fairly well protected, but one day a bullet came through the tent and landed on the sterile tray we had for the instruments.”
Having completed an internship at Scott & White Hospital in Temple in 1939 and, after serving as an anesthesiologist in the army, he sought out further training in anesthesiology. Under the tutelage of Ralph Tovell, M.D. he completed an anesthesiology residency at the Hartford Hospital in Connecticut, and afterward a fellowship at Yale University. Once his training was complete, he returned to central Texas in 1947 to join the senior staff at Scott & White Hospital. As he was arriving, Dr. Claudia Potter was nearing retirement, and Dr. Gillespie soon assumed the role of Chief of Anesthesiology.
Dr. Gillespie was passionate about education and, in the late 1940’s, he established the anesthesiology residency training program at Scott & White Hospital, the first in Texas. This was the same year that his good friend (and UTMB class of 1940 classmate) Dr. M.T. “Pepper” Jenkins was establishing the anesthesiology residency program at UT Southwestern. In contrast to the accepted hierarchy of that time, Dr. Gillespie was instrumental in establishing the department of anesthesiology as a separate department instead of a division of the department of surgery. He served as the Chair of Anesthesiology at Scott & White Hospital for 26 years of his nearly 40 year career.
He also had a strong interest in expanding the scope of anesthesiology into pain management. He said, “The development of pain clinics is an important aspect of the practice of anesthesiology. It is pretty well an extension of the fact that the anesthesiologist is trained in the principles of blocking nerves that are hurting.” Dr. Gillespie established the very first pain clinic at the hospital and was a recognized early pioneer in this developing subspecialty of anesthesiology.
Beyond the hospital walls, Dr. Gillespie also assumed leadership roles in organized medicine. This culminated when he served as the President of the Texas Society of Anesthesiologists from 1963 to 1964. In addition, he and his wife Estelle led goodwill delegations of physicians to the Soviet Union and China. These exchanges of scientific ideas were some of the first collaborations of their kind.
Dr. Gillespie retired in 1981 from Scott & White Hospital, having spent 35 years of his 38 year career there. His passion for education led him and his family to establish and endow the Gillespie Family Lectureship in Anesthesiology and Pain Control. Their generosity has allowed many distinguished guest speakers to visit the residency program to teach young physicians in training. His name remains well known in the hospital where he served and led for so many years.
Dr. Gillespie passed away in 2008 on October 4th, following a storied career in medicine. He was preceded in death by his wife Estelle in 2001. He is survived by his five children, Anne, Jean, Claire, Alan, and Ray. We recognize all of his contributions to our specialty and appreciate his leadership during the infancy of anesthesiology as a medical specialty.
Reference:
L Besaw. TMA 50-Year Club Members Helped Make It. Tex Med. 1995 Nov;91(11):34-5, 37. “S&W’s Second Anesthesiologist Retires After 38-Year Career” Temple Daily Telegram. Jan 8, 1981.
