Psychiatric Surgery in Mid-Century Rochester: A Historical Examination
Presented by:
Eelco Wijdicks, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Neurology and the History of Medicine
and
Kristen Scheitler, M.D.,
Neurologic Surgery Resident, Mayo Clinic in Rochester
In the 1930s and 1940s, the practice of frontal lobe lesioning, promoted by American neurologist Dr. Walter J. Freeman II, reached Rochester as part of a broader international movement in psychosurgery.
Dr. Wijdicks will examine Freeman’s early ties to Mayo Clinic, beginning with his first visit to Rochester as a medical student in the summer of 1919, and later as an advocate of the prefrontal lobotomy.
Drawing on newly reviewed institutional archives, Dr. Scheitler will describe how Mayo physicians and neurosurgeons at the Rochester State Hospital cautiously evaluated and introduced the procedure for a small number of severely ill patients, while remaining apprehensive about the irreversible changes it could cause.
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Tuesday, June 23
Leighton Auditorium | Siebens Building | Second floor
Mayo Clinic | 200 First Street SW | Rochester, MN
A light buffet will be served at 5:30 p.m. CT
Lecture to begin at 6:00 p.m. CT
This event is free and open to all. The lecture will also be broadcast via Zoom. For in-person attendance, RSVP is required by June 16.