The history of neurosurgery in Memphis: the Semmes-Murphey Clinic and the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine

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Dee J. CanaleSemmes-Murphey Neurologic and Spine Institute;

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Clarence. B. WatridgeSemmes-Murphey Neurologic and Spine Institute;
Department of Neurosurgery, University of Tennessee College of Medicine, Memphis, Tennessee; and

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Tyler S. FuehrerLoyola University, New Orleans, Louisiana

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Jon H. RobertsonSemmes-Murphey Neurologic and Spine Institute;
Department of Neurosurgery, University of Tennessee College of Medicine, Memphis, Tennessee; and

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Page Range:
189–198
Volume/Issue:
Volume 112: Issue 1
DOI link:
https://doi.org/10.3171/2009.4.JNS09173
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Neurological surgery was defined as a separate surgical specialty by Harvey Cushing and a few other surgeons, most of whom were trained and influenced by Cushing. One of these, Raphael Eustace Semmes, became the first neurosurgeon in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1912. After World War II, Semmes and his first associate, Francis Murphey, incorporated the Semmes-Murphey Clinic, which has been primarily responsible for the growth of the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, as well as the development of select neurosurgical subspecialties in Memphis area hospitals.

Abbreviations used in this paper:

AANS = American Association of Neurological Surgeons; CNS = Congress of Neurological Surgeons.
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Contributor Notes

Address correspondence to: Clarence B. Watridge, M.D., Semmes-Murphey Clinic, 6435 Humphreys Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee 38120. email: cwatridge@semmes-murphey.com.
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