Medical Degree and Surgery, Columbia University

Walter S. Sutton, ca. 1905. Sutton returned to Columbia University in 1905, after two years in the Chautauqua County, Kansas oil fields, to complete the final two years of medical school. (Courtesy of the Clendening Medical Library, Univ. of Kansas Med. Ctr.)

Sutton returned to New York to complete the last two years of medical school at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University. It was a common procedure for graduate students in the medical sciences to take courses with the medical students. Sutton received first year medical school credit for courses taken for his master's degree at the University of Kansas and second year credit for courses while a graduate student with Wilson at Columbia University. Classmate and roommate of Sutton, John Vaughn, recalled (Family memorial) how Wilson, in a talk on cytology to the class, noted that much of the recent work on the cell had been done by a new member of the class and then asked if Walter Sutton would please stand up. In this way Sutton was introduced to the second year medical class when he first arrived at Columbia University in 1901.

Sutton's sketch of the gastrointestinal tract and lecture notes from a course in human anatomy. Mrs Frank Hagaman, Walter Sutton's cousin, donated Sutton's drawings and notes, and a "Family memorial book" to the Clendening History of Medicine Library in 1960. Agnes Sutton Austin, niece of Sutton's, also donated drawings and notes. (Courtesy of the Clendening Medical Library, Univ. of Kansas Med. Ctr.

When Sutton returned to Columbia in 1905 he found that Vaughn had also been absent from New York, having spent two years in the arctic. Finding themselves in similar situations, Sutton and Vaughn decided to room together. Vaughn related, "After a search we took possession of a big old-fashioned back parlor and prepared for a year of hard work." (Vaughn, Family memorial). Sutton often received reprints from cytologists and would compare their work with what he had written in his thesis. Vaughn encouraged him to publish the thesis but Sutton believed he could not spend time on final preparation of the manuscript but he hoped to return to it at a later time. Vaughn recalled that the room was often filled with drawings of oil machinery. Since the patent for the hoisting apparatus was submitted in 1905 but not approved until 1907, it is likely that a number of drafting changes were required during the interval. Also, there were drawings related to the use of electric motors in drilling oil wells, as this was a major interest when he left the oil fields. During the fourth year of medical school, Sutton substituted at several hospitals and at this time he began designing improvements to medical instruments.

Dr. Walter S. Sutton graduated with "high standing" from the College of Physicians and Surgeons and began an internship at Roosevelt Hospital in June 1907 on the surgical division headed by Dr. Joseph Blake.

Sutton is shown on the right in the operating room at Roosevelt Hospital (ca. 1908). Surgical masks were not used but black rubber gloves can be seen at the bottom of the picture. W. S. Halstead started the use of rubber gloves (Goodyear Rubber Co.) in surgery in 1890. (Courtesy of the Clendening Medical Library, Univ. of Kansas Med. Ctr.)

In addition to his clinical duties, Sutton found time to carry out investigations in the Surgical Research Laboratory of the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. George Brewer, Professor of Surgery, recalled that, "After months of painstaking experimental work he devised an apparatus with which he was able to administer the anesthetic by the colonic method without danger of accident or complication. All of the surgeons on duty at the Roosevelt Hospital adopted the method for mouth operations, operations on the larynx, thyroid and neck." (Brewer, Family memorial). Sutton published two reports on this subject (Sutton, 1910), (Sutton, 1914). ). The method had been tried at Boston City Hospital but abandoned because of frequent complications. Sutton was able to correct the defects in design that made it a successful method of anesthesia.

Colonic anesthesia equipment. With this equipment, ether was vaporized and the vapor warmed prior to introduction into the colon. The volume of ether vapor could be regulated by the anesthesiologist to obtain the desired depth of anesthesia. This method of anesthesia was extensively used at Roosevelt Hospital, and later at other institutions, primarily for thoracic and head and neck surgery. (Courtesy of the Clendening Medical Library, Univ. of Kansas Med. Ctr.).

During this period, he also perfected a system for abdominal irrigation developed by Roosevelt Hospital surgeon, Dr. Joseph Blake, for use in treating peritonitis. Blake thought highly of Sutton and commented on Sutton's year as house surgeon. "His keenness and enthusiasm, coupled with marked intelligence and extreme dexterity, made him advance with great rapidity. It was a great regret to me that he decided to quit New York and practice at his home. I had hoped that he would return to New York and become a valuable member of the surgical department at the University." (Blake, Family memorial). Later, Sutton would see several of the Roosevelt Hospital surgeons in France in 1915, during the early part of WWI.

Sutton's drawing of the abdominal irrigation system. Dr. Joseph Blake stated, "The apparatus, as I had it made, was somewhat clumsy and inefficient, and Dr. Sutton at once improved it so that it was practically automatic in its action." (Blake, Family memorial). (Courtesy of the Clendening Medical Library, Univ. of Kansas Med. Ctr.).