Paul Budd MAGNUSON1884–1968

Who’s Who in Orthopedics meeting of the Under-Graduate Medical Associa- tion of the University of Pennsylvania on April 8, 1908, as an honor upon his graduation and was published as his first paper in the University of Pennsylvania Medical Bulletin of that date. He was elected, at that time, to the national honorary scientific society, Sigma Xi. This early experi- mental work established a pattern for clinical investigation, which he carried on throughout his years of practice and teaching.

In 1909, following graduation from medical school, Dr. Magnuson became an assistant to the famous Chicago surgeon, Dr. John B. Murphy. He served with Dr. Murphy full-time for a year, then established his own practice in the stockyards area of Chicago. He continued to assist Dr.

Murphy part-time for another year, then worked with Dr. William E. Schroeder, Chief of Staff at the Chicago Wesley Memorial Hospital, for several years while conducting his own growing practice. Dr. Magnuson’s work in the stockyards was primarily fractures and trauma suffered by the workmen of the stockyards and the railroads serving the area.

His first office was located over a saloon on Halsted Street in the heart of the slaughter-house area of Chicago. Because of his sincere concern for his patients and an uncompromising desire for excellence in their care, he quickly gained a reputation for skill and integrity with the work- men and unions as well as with the management of industry. Because of this reputation he was honored by appointment as the first medical direc- tor for the newly formed Industrial Commission of the State of Illinois in 1916.

Shortly after establishing his practice in Chicago, he married his childhood sweetheart, Alice L. Hasson. A year later, a son, Paul Jr., was born, needless to say, the apple of his father’s eye.

Years later, he was to take equal pride and enjoy- ment from his three grandchildren, the children of Paul Jr.

In 1912, with Dr. Philip Lewin and others, Dr.

Magnuson helped found the Clinical Orthopedic Society. On the 50th anniversary of this society in October 1962, Dr. Magnuson was honored by this group as a founding member.

From 1912 to 1917, Dr. Magnuson was active in his practice, joining first the faculty of Rush Medical College as a teacher, and later transfer- ring to the faculty of Northwestern University Medical School. During these years he became chief surgeon for the Chicago and Alton and the Chicago Junction Railroad Companies.

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Paul Budd MAGNUSON

1884–1968

Paul Magnuson was born June 14, 1884, in Merrian, Minnesota, at that time a suburb of St. Paul, the son of a Swedish father and a mother of Scottish and English descent. A happy child- hood with his brothers and two sisters in this small town developed a sound set of moral and ethical values, which he followed throughout his life.

He entered the University of Minnesota in 1903 and 2 years later was admitted to the second year of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Medicine was chosen as a career when, at the age of 7, he assisted the family doctor in the emergency care of his mother. The event so impressed young Magnuson that from then on there was no question in his mind about his future as a doctor.

While in medical school, Dr. Magnuson became interested in the problem of unequal leg lengths, inspired by the Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, Dr. DeForest Willard. Working in the laboratory, he devised an electrically powered cir- cular bone saw mounted on a flexible drive shaft to facilitate the bone-lengthening procedure he envisioned. This saw was a forerunner of the many electrically powered surgical instruments used in orthopedic surgery today.

The reults of the leg-lengthening experiment,

carried out on dogs, established the feasibility of

such a procedure, which he later carried out suc-

cessfully on his patients. The result of this pioneer

research work was presented at the first annual

When the United States entered World War I, Dr. Magnuson was called to Washington, DC, to serve as an assistant to Dr. Elliott Brackett, Chief of the Orthopedic Division in the Surgeon- General’s office. Here he helped to organize the orthopedic services of the army. He entered service in 1917 as a Captain, advancing to Major at the close of the war in 1918.

Returning to Chicago, he resumed his practice and teaching duties at Northwestern University.

Because of his interest in the problems of reha- bilitation, he organized the first formal physical therapy department at Wesley Memorial Hospital.

He induced Dr. Stanley Coulter, an associate, to turn to the development of the first physical med- icine department to be established in the country.

Dr. Coulter became the early leader in this new specialty and became the first Professor of Physical Medicine at Northwestern University Medical School.

In 1930, Dr. Magnuson suffered the tragic loss of his beloved wife Alice. For many years this grand lady had supported and encouraged Dr.

Magnuson in his career, although she was an invalid from crippling rheumatic heart disease.

After her death, the doctor buried himself in his work.

From this time through 1945, Dr. Magnuson spent his most active years in clinical medicine.

He became Professor of Surgery and head of the Department of Bone and Joint Surgery at North- western. He helped found the American Board of Surgery. He wrote the textbook, Fractures, which brought forth his fundamental concepts of fracture treatment. He developed his well-known operations for correction of recurrent dislocation of the shoulder and debridement of the knee joint, as well as lesser-known works on arthroplasty of the hip, the etiology of back pain, and bone graft- ing. During this time he met and married Laura Thompson, whom he loved and cherished throughout the remainder of his life.

From 1941 through 1946, he served as civilian consultant to the Surgeon-General of the US Army.

In 1945, at the close of World War II, he was again summoned to Washington, DC, to reorgan- ize the Medical Department of the Veterans Administration under the direction of General Paul R. Hanley and General Omar Bradley. It was Dr. Magnuson’s plan to place the Veterans Admin- istration hospitals in close cooperation with the medical schools of the country, which led to the formation of the well-known Deans’ Committees.

Under his direction, the Veterans hospitals were staffed by medical school faculties, residency pro- grams were established, and research projects started, which vastly improved the quality of care received by the veterans of World War II.

Dr. Magnuson served as Chief Medical Direc- tor of the Veterans Administration from 1948 through 1951. During this period, Maggie, as he was affectionately called by his colleagues, con- firmed his reputation as a fighter for the best medical care possible for sick people, in this instance the veterans of World War II. This repu- tation was amply tested in cutting through the customary bureaucratic red tape and pork barrel politics prevalent at the time. His insistence on building new hospitals adjacent to medical schools, where they could be properly staffed, was a foreign concept in some circles of govern- ment. Eventually this fight with bureaucracy led to his dismissal as Medical Director of the Veterans Administration. His firm stand on elim- inating politics in the construction of Veterans Administration facilities was subsequently con- firmed by an investigation by a committee of the United States Senate. His struggle to obtain the best medical care for the veterans of this country is dramatically told in his autobiography Ring the Night Bell, published in 1960.

Having served as co-chairman of the Skeletal Systems Committee of the National Research Council, he was vitally interested in the problem of the amputee. Through his efforts, much of the research work on prosthetic devices was insti- tuted through the Veterans Administration. His work in this field helped to establish standards and methods that set the pattern for the prosthet- ics industry.

In 1951, following the termination of his service with the Veterans Administration, Presi- dent Truman appointed Dr. Magnuson Chairman of the Commission on the Health Needs of the Nation. In a five-volume report this Commission, in 1952, outlined many of the potential problems facing American medicine. Dr. Magnuson’s trials and tribulations with organized medicine in car- rying out this study are documented in his autobiography.

In 1952, upon completion of his work with the Commission on the Health Needs of the Nation, he returned to Chicago and began the organiza- tion for founding the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. He had long held a dream for a rehabil- itation centre in the mid-west, which would reflect his concept of rehabilitation of sick 216

Who’s Who in Orthopedics

persons to “the fullest physical, mental, voca- tional, social, and economic usefulness of which they are capable.” Through his efforts funds were raised and a board of directors selected, which established the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. As founder and first president of the Institute, his dream of a complete rehabilitation centre in the mid-west was realized when North- western University accepted the Institute as a part of the University and took over management of this unique facility.

For 50 years of service to medicine Dr.

Magnuson received many honors. He was pre- sented with three honorary degrees, a DSc from Duke University and the LLD degrees from Baylor University and Western Reserve University.

He was honorary member of the British Orthopedic Association; a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, serving as secre- tary of the Board of Regents; a member of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, serving as president in 1949; and a founding member of the American Board of Surgery and the Clinical Orthopedic Society. He also was a Diplomat of the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery and a member of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, the American Orthope- dic Association, the American Surgical Associa- tion, the Southern Surgical Association, the Western Surgical Association, the Association of Industrial Surgeons, the International Society of Orthopedics and Traumatology, the International Society of Surgery, the Chicago Surgical Society, the Chicago Orthopedic Society, the Chicago Medical Society, the Illinois State Medical Society, the American Medical Association, the Institute of Medicine of Chicago, and Sigma Xi.

He was a member of the Metropolitan Club, Washington, DC, the Century Association, the Brook of New York and Racquet Clubs.

In his presidential address, “Some Wise Men in American Surgery,” delivered to the 88th annual meeting of the American Surgical Association, April 17–19, 1968, Dr. William P. Longmire, Jr., paid tribute to Dr. Paul B. Magnuson’s contribu- tions to American medicine. In the closing para- graph of his address, Dr. Longmire stated: “Let us be ever mindful of the contributions of certain wise men of American surgery, such as Halsted, Bevan, Archibald, the Mayos, and Magnuson, for each has introduced a unique concept to enhance the delivery of our professional care.”

On November 5, 1968, Paul Budd Magnuson, MD died at George Washington University Hos-

pital, Washington, DC, of a cerebral vascular accident at the age of 84.

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Who’s Who in Orthopedics

Joseph François MALGAIGNE

1806–1865

Securité–Simplicité–Celerité

Some surgeons are remembered as great techni- cians, others, as great teachers. Medical folklore is full of tales of surgeons remembered because of, or in spite of, their eccentricities. It is an unusual surgeon, however, whose name lives on because of his literary genius as an author and editor. Joseph François Malgaigne

was such a man. An experienced surgeon, he was actively engaged in the practice of his profession through- out his life. A scholar, he searched out original sources for their meaning without relying upon translators and compilers. A gifted teacher, he was accustomed to marshalling minutiae into concise and logical patterns. Blessed with these talents, he used them efficiently, with the result that the sur- gical literature of his time was enriched.

The Traité des Fractures et des Luxations

appeared in 1847 as a comprehensive two-volume

work with a sumptuous supplementary atlas of

plates. The first, and smaller volume, deals with

fractures

and the second, larger volume, deals

with dislocations. It is the finest and most com-

plete work on fractures to be published up to that

time, far exceeding Astley Cooper’s Treatise on