Clinical Lecturer in
Orthopaedic Surgery (1888-1891)
Oscar Allis had a great interest in problems of a
mechanical nature and devised the Allis forceps,
which remains a widely used surgical instrument
today. He practiced general surgery in many
Philadelphia hospitals and, for a period of about
ten years, was a member of the Department of
Surgery at Jefferson Hospital. He began giving
lectures on orthopaedic surgery at Jefferson, in
response to his own interest, during 1879. This
interest was formally recognized when he was
named Clinical Lecturer of Orthopaedic Surgery in
1888. These lectures were given during the summer
courses while he was working in surgery with the
younger Gross. He is generally credited with
organizing the orthopaedic outpatient clinic at
Jefferson in the 1877 Hospital. He focused
attention on the mechanical problems encountered
in surgery, thus preparing the environment for the
eventual establishment of a separate Department of
Orthopaedic Surgery. He continued to be involved
with Jefferson's early interest in orthopaedics until
he resigned from the faculty in 1891.
Allis was widely regarded as an authority on
fractures and dislocations during his lifetime. He
was awarded the Gross Prize of the Philadelphia
Academy of Surgery in 1895 for his monograph on
Obstacles to the Reduction of Dislocation of the Hip.
Just before his death in 1921, he completed a
work, illustrated with a model, demonstrating
the functions of the spinal column with its
musculature. He used this device to call attention
to the effect of posture on normal spinal curvature
and the bad effect of faulty posture. His
biographer in American Medical Biographies
published in 1928 said of Allis: "He shone rather
as an investigator of surgical problems and a
deviser of useful surgical instruments than as an
operator. While he was a man of the finest
character, universally respected and trusted, yet he
was somewhat dour and set in his opinions.'" In
spite of his early association with
orthopaedics at Jefferson, Oscar Allis regarded himself at all times
as a general surgeon, and his organizational memberships reflected that distinction. When he left Jefferson, the position of Clinical Lecturer in
Orthopaedic Surgery was given to H. Augustus Wilson, an 1879 graduate of Jefferson.
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.
