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Abstract
William Alexander Hammond was an American military physician and a main driving force for the development of modern-day clinical Neurology in America. Hammond served as the 11th Surgeon General of the United States Army, acting during the Civil War. Throughout his time as Surgeon General, with influence from Florence Nightingale, Hammond enforced strict hygienic measures and called for the construction of pavilion style hospitals in order to decrease non-wound mortalities. He implemented further reformation of the American Medical Service that would improve efficiency and decrease general mortality for years to come. After his dismissal from the military service, Hammond continued to make meaningful achievements, spearheading the specialization of Neurology. He established the first private practice limited to diseases of the nervous system, published the first American Neurology textbook, coined the term “athetosis”, and was the impetus for the formation of the American Neurological Association.
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1 New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA
2 Department of Neurosurgery, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
3 New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA