David Hayes Agnew

David Hayes Agnew (November 24, 1818 – March 22, 1892) was an American surgeon, anatomist, and educator. During the American Civil War he worked as a surgeon at Satterlee General Hospital, Hestonville Military Hospital, and as consulting surgeon to a staff of 47 resident physicians at Mower General Hospital in Philadelphia. He purchased and taught at the Philadelphia School of Anatomy and founded the Philadelphia School of Operative Anatomy. He worked as a surgeon at the Philadelphia General Hospital, Pennsylvania Hospital, Wills Eye Hospital, and Orthopedic Hospital.

He held multiple academic positions at the University of Pennsylvania including professor of clinical surgery, professor of principles and practices of surgery, professor emeritus of surgery, and honorary professor of clinical surgery. He served as president of several medical societies including the American Surgical Association and the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. He was the chief surgeon in attendance after the shooting of President James A. Garfield.

The Agnew Clinic painting by Thomas Eakins was commissioned in 1889 to commemorate Agnew's retirement from the University of Pennsylvania.

Early life and education Agnew was born on November 24, 1818, in Nobleville, Pennsylvania, (present-day Christiana, Pennsylvania), to Robert Agnew and Agnes Noble.

In 1833, he entered Jefferson College, but left in 1834 and enrolled in Newark College in Newark, Delaware, where his cousin John Holmes Agnew was a professor of languages. Agnew left Newark College after just one year when his cousin left and Agnew returned home to study medicine under his father.

In 1852, he purchased the Philadelphia School of Anatomy for $600 and taught there for ten years. In 1854, he worked as a surgeon in the Philadelphia General Hospital and founded the pathological museum. After the Battle of Gettysburg, he traveled to field hospitals near the battlefield and administered care, including to General Winfield Scott Hancock. This was his first experience with military surgery and an emerging medical field due to the proliferation of gunshot wounds and injuries and diseases due to military activities of the American Civil War. The depth of experience he obtained during the war burnished his reputation as one of the top surgeons in the United States and an expert on gunshot wounds.

In 1863, he founded the Philadelphia School of Operative Surgery and worked as a surgeon at Wills Eye Hospital. In 1864, he was appointed surgeon at Pennsylvania Hospital and in 1867, surgeon to Orthopedic Hospital. He served as president of the Philadelphia County Medical Society in 1870, the Pennsylvania State Society in 1877, the Philadelphia Academy of Surgery in 1888, and the American Surgical Association in 1888. He served as manager of the Philadelphia House of Refuge for thirty-three years and served on the board of directors of the Philadelphia Dental College and the Franklin Institute. He was elected president of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia in 1890.

He published 100 journal articles and several publications on surgery including The Principles and Practice of Surgery, which covered his medical experience of fifty years.

The D. Hayes Agnew Surgical Pavilion at the University of Pennsylvania medical center was named in his honor.

Personal life He married Margaret Creighton Irwin on November 21, 1841. He was an abolitionist and a member of the American Colonization Society.