Charles F. Ferguson, MD: America's first full time pediatric otolaryngologist

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Abstract

This historical review highlights the career of Charles F. Ferguson, MD for whom the annual clinical science awards bestowed by the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology are named. Dr. Ferguson was the first full time pediatric otolaryngologist in the United States. His career at Boston Children’s Hospital spanned almost four decades. Disorders of the larynx, trachea and bronchi were his principal professional focus, with a specific expertise in bronchoesophagology. His pioneering work in pediatric airway endoscopy and the development of techniques to diagnose congenital airway malformations led to his receipt of the Chevalier Jackson Award from the American Bronchoesophagological Association, and the James Newcomb Award from the American Laryngological Society. He notably edited the first Pediatric Otolaryngology textbook in 1972. His life’s work help set the foundation for the creation of the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology in 1984, six years following his retirement. The Charles Ferguson Clinical Science Awards were established to sustain his legacy.

Introduction

Each year the Program Committee of the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology (ASPO) bestows Charles Ferguson Clinical Science Awards to the top three clinical research manuscripts presented in oral format at the annual meeting. Despite the prestige of these awards, the majority of ASPO members likely do not know who Dr. Charles Ferguson was. Few current members are old enough to have personally known him.

Dr. Ferguson was not even a member of the Society. He retired from practice six years before ASPO was founded. Why then do these awards given to young investigators for outstanding clinical research carry his name? The story of his remarkable career explains why ASPO established these awards in 1987 to honor Dr. Ferguson's legacy as the first truly full-time pediatric otolaryngologist in North America.

Section snippets

Training and career

Charles Foss Ferguson was born in 1909 in Marblehead, MA. He traveled to Boston to attend the Boston Latin School located to this day on Louis Pasteur Avenue, within sight of both Boston Children's Hospital and the Harvard Medical School. It is highly unlikely he knew at the time that this geographic location, with the exception of his four years of undergraduate education (1925–1929) across the Charles River at Harvard College, would be the site of his lifelong employment.

Dr. Ferguson received

Academic accomplishments

Drs. Ferguson and Flake complimented one another extremely well over the course of their three decades working together. Dr. Flake had a primary interest in otology and hearing loss, so alternatively Dr. Ferguson pursued a more airway focused career. Disorders and diseases of the larynx, trachea and bronchi account for the majority, but not all, of his approximately thirty publications.

Drs. Ferguson and Flake coauthored several papers which helped define the early field of pediatric

Professional societies and organizations

During Dr. Ferguson's early years in practice, he witnessed the separation of Otolaryngology and Ophthalmology as unique specialties, and his subsequent career paralleled the development of subspecialty interests within the field of otolaryngology.

He was a fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology, as well as the American College of Surgeons. He was a member of the American Medical Association, the New England Pediatric Society, and the New England Otolaryngological

Textbook

In 1972 Dr. Ferguson co-authored with Dr. Edwin Kendig the second edition of the textbook Disorders of the Respiratory Tract in Children (Fig. 3). The first edition of this textbook, published in 1967, contained several chapters on otolaryngology topics, two of which had been authored by Dr. Ferguson [7]. The second edition was split into two volumes; the first – Pulmonary Disorders – retaining most of the original first edition's material [8]; the second – Pediatric Otolaryngology – was made

Legacy

Dr. Ferguson recognized “the child is not merely a ‘little man’ and that the customary methods of administration of anesthesia, as well as preoperative and postoperative care, were not successfully adaptable to the young age group.” Acknowledging the support of both Dr. William Ladd and his otolaryngology colleagues at Boston Children's Hospital, he devoted his career completely to the care of children. He took this step years before most current members of the American Society of Pediatric

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    Bronchography in the diagnosis of pediatric problems

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    (1957)
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