Hanes Project is instituted as a primary nursing practicum for sixteen new graduates of the BSN program. This new initiative was the first primary care nursing project in the U.S.
Duke Medicine Timeline
- First primary care nursing project
- 2nd SOM Dean appointed
With the retirement of Wilburt C. Davison, Dr. Barnes Woodhall is appointed Dean of the Medical Center on 1 July.
- Expansion
Gerontology Building and the Diagnostic and Treatment Center opened (Busse Building).
- New building opens
Clinical Research Building opened (Stead Building).
- Hyperbaric chamber
Duke's first hyperbaric chamber opens.
- Minority students admitted
First Black student, W. Delano Meriwether, admitted to Duke University School of Medicine. He graduated in 1967.
- First clinical nurse specialist
Ruby Wilson is appointed as Duke Hospital's first clinical nurse specialist. In this role she provided care for dialysis and kidney transplant patients in the Division of Nephrology. She also developed a training program for corpsmen that led to the later development of Duke's Physician Assistant Program.
- 3rd SOM Dean appointed
With the retirement of Barnes Woodhall, Dr. William G. Anlyan becomes Dean of Duke University Medical Center and School of Medicine on 1 July.
- Microbiology breakthrough
Wolfgang Karl (Bill) Joklik is the first to describe the mechanism of action of interferon.
- Physician Assistant program
Duke establishes the nation's first Physician Assistant Program.
- Physician Assistant program
Duke establishes the nation's first Physician Assistant Program.
- Gerontological nursing program
Virginia Stone, PhD, RN, develops and implements the first gerontological master's degree program for nurses interested in caring for older adults.
- Duke Databank for Cardiovascular Disease
Eugene Stead organizes the Duke Databank for Cardiovascular Disease.
- Project MED-AID begins
Duke becomes the first medical center in the world to offer a radio consultative program to isolated doctors in other countries. The radio program, Project MED-AID (shortened for Medical Assistance for Isolated Doctors), met critical needs of physicians in developing countries.
- Building expansion
New Hospital Entrance, the Woodhall Building, opened.
- New curriculum
The new medical school curriculum gives students greater freedom to choose their course materials.
- MSTP established
The Duke Medical Scientist Training Program, a joint degree program leading to both the MD and the PhD degrees, is founded. It is one of the first three in the nation.
- First Black nursing student
The first Black nursing student, Donna Allen Harris, is admitted to the School of Nursing.
- Research building opens
The Nanaline Duke Research Building opened.
- Enzyme discovered
Dr. Irwin Fridovich and graduate student Joe McCord discover the enzyme which protects all living things against the toxicity of oxygen.
- 1,000-foot dive
In its hyperbaric chamber, Duke conducts the first recorded studies of humans' ability to function and work at pressures equal to a 1,000-foot deep-sea dive.