Annals of diagnostic pathology
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Biography Historical Article
Arthur Purdy Stout (1885-1967), a pioneer of surgical pathology: a survey of his Notes on the Education of an "Oncological" Surgical Pathologist.
Arthur Purdy Stout (1885-1967) started his medical career as a surgical intern and house surgeon at institutions that were to join the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. With virtualy no formal training in pathology and little supervision, he was given the opportunity to work in a laboratory of surgical pathology. He focused his attention on neoplasms and tumor-like conditions, and authored Human Cancer in 1932. ⋯ This manuscript of 427 typewritten pages offers candid details on his development as a surgical pathologist from rather primitive and chaotic beginnings, and on the post-World War II rise of surgical pathology. Notes provides interesting glimpses of his rapidly changing world, particularly of New York, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, and other pathologists. It also portrays an individual absorbed by his work and intent on leaving behind the legacy of a pioneer in the field of surgical pathology.