Celebrated with an iconic statue (left) as “The City of Brotherly Love,” Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is home to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP, founded 1855), the oldest children’s hospital in the United States. Margery “Margo” Deming, M.D. (1914 to 1998, upper right), was the first director of pediatric anesthesiology at CHOP and began her tenure along with pediatric surgeon and future surgeon-general C. Everett Koop, M.D., in 1946. After graduating as the first anesthesiology resident at the University of Pennsylvania and before her leadership role at CHOP, Deming trained for a year under pediatric anesthesiology pioneers M. Digby Leigh, M.D., and M. Kathleen Belton, M.D. Not disheartened after a right hand weakened by childhood polio, Deming was gifted a set of custom left-handed blades from Richard Foregger, Ph.D. (upper and lower, middle), upon her return to Philadelphia—perhaps reinforcing the trend towards modern left-handed laryngoscopic technique. A brilliant academic, she shaped the practice of pediatric anesthesiology by defining the margin of safety for inhalational anesthesia in children. A forerunner in many respects, she holds a special place in the hearts of female anesthesiologists as she paved the way for future women as leaders and as academics. (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology. www.woodlibrarymuseum.org)
Celebrated with an iconic statue (left) as “The City of Brotherly Love,” Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is home to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP, founded 1855), the oldest children’s hospital in the United States. Margery “Margo” Deming, M.D. (1914 to 1998, upper right), was the first director of pediatric anesthesiology at CHOP and began her tenure along with pediatric surgeon and future surgeon-general C. Everett Koop, M.D., in 1946. After graduating as the first anesthesiology resident at the University of Pennsylvania and before her leadership role at CHOP, Deming trained for a year under pediatric anesthesiology pioneers M. Digby Leigh, M.D., and M. Kathleen Belton, M.D. Not disheartened after a right hand weakened by childhood polio, Deming was gifted a set of custom left-handed blades from Richard Foregger, Ph.D. (upper and lower, middle), upon her return to Philadelphia—perhaps reinforcing the trend towards modern left-handed laryngoscopic technique. A brilliant academic, she shaped the practice of pediatric anesthesiology by defining the margin of safety for inhalational anesthesia in children. A forerunner in many respects, she holds a special place in the hearts of female anesthesiologists as she paved the way for future women as leaders and as academics. (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology. www.woodlibrarymuseum.org)
Melissa L. Coleman, M.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania.
