Early life and education
Deaver was born on July 25, 1855, near Buck, Pennsylvania, to Joshua Montgomery Deaver and Elizabeth Clair Moore. [2] His father was a country doctor, and his brothers Richard and Harold also became physicians. He attended West Nottingham Academy in Maryland and briefly worked as a teacher to pay for his medical education. Deaver graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1878, and interned at the Children's Hospital of the Mary Drexel Home and The German Hospital, now Lankenau Medical Center. [3] [4]
Career
In his early days as a doctor, Deaver worked alongside his physician brothers making house calls and performing surgeries in patients' homes. [5]
He taught at the University of Pennsylvania from 1881 to 1889. He left the university due to a rivalry with J. William White who was placed in charge of surgical education. He joined the faculty of German Hospital in 1886 and was appointed Chief of the Surgical Department in 1897. [2]
During his 40 year career at Lankenau Hospital, [2] Deaver was considered an innovator in the field of abdominal surgery. He revolutionized abdominal surgery, particularly the appendectomy. [6] He was a proponent of early and preventative surgery to address appendicitis. It is estimated that he performed 15,000 appendectomies. [7] However, he typically performed all surgical actions and thus placed responsibility on himself for both the decision to operate and the outcome of the procedure. "Cut well, get well, stay well," was a motto often repeated by Deaver. [2] In 1924 he stated, "If when I am taken to my reward, I am known as nothing else, I shall be satisfied to have as my epitaph: 'He fought a good fight- his life was a continuous war on the vermiform appendix." [8]
He held "Saturday Clinics" which were attended by surgeons from around the world. He was known to conduct 25 surgeries in an afternoon during these clinics. He was a prolific surgeon. It is estimated he performed over 100,000 procedures during the course of his medical career. [2] One year, he performed six major surgeries every weekday. It is claimed he performed more appendectomies on physicians than any other surgeon in the United States. [9] He invented the Deaver Retractor, a medical instrument used in abdominal surgeries. It is not known when the device was invented, but it was first mentioned in a 1928 article of the Journal of the American Medical Association. [2]
After the resignation of J. William White, Deaver returned to the University of Pennsylvania in 1911. He worked there as Professor of the Practice of Surgery from 1911 to 1918, as John Rhea Barton Professor of Surgery from 1918 to 1922, and as Emeritus Professor of Surgery from 1922 to 1931. [2] He was also professor of surgery at the Women's Medical College, and a surgeon at the Philadelphia Hospital and the Kensington Hospital for Women. He was one of the founders of the American College of Surgeons and served as the fifth president of the organization from 1921 to 1922. [2] He served as president of the Interstate Post-Graduate Medical Association of North America, and member of many other surgical societies. He wrote five textbooks and approximately 250 articles. [7] [10]
He died September 25, 1931, [2] at his home in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, [9] and was interred at West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. [11] His death was rumored to be caused by prostate cancer but it is not known since he asked for all medical records related to the case to be destroyed. [7]
Personal life
In 1889, Deaver married Caroline Randall and they had four children: Elizabeth, John, Harriet, and Joshua. John B. Deaver's son, Joshua Montgomery Deaver, would also become a physician with a long career at Lankenau Medical Center. [12]
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