Medical Pioneer. A surgeon and US Navy Admiral, he significantly modernized the provision of military medicine. Raised in Brooklyn, he attended Adelphi Academy and the Polytechnic Institute in Brooklyn prior to receiving his M.D. from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York (now, Columbia). He served as ambulance surgeon at Chambers Street Hospital, trained at Bellevue Hospital and at Governor Hospital, then joined the Navy on February 1, 1889. After initial service aboard the USS "Minnesota", he was posted to the Naval Hospitals at Mare Island, California, and Yokohama, Japan, and during the Spanish American War was a surgeon on board the USS "Solace". From 1903 until 1906, Dr. Stokes served as President Theodore Roosevelt's personal physician; he was Commanding Officer of the Naval Hospital, San Juan, Puerto Rico, from 1906 to 1908, and during the 1908 Cruise Around the World of the Atlantic Fleet, he commanded the USS "Relief", becoming the first physician ever to command a ship. Dr. Stokes was appointed Surgeon General of the Navy in February of 1910, serving in that capacity until February 6, 1914. During his tenure he strengthened standards for the Medical Corps and established professional training for the enlisted Hospital Corpsmen at the Naval Hospital Corps School, Norfolk, Virginia. In 1913 he became a founder of the American College of Surgeons and a member of that group's first Board of Regents; following his June 1917 retirement from the Navy, he practiced in New York City until 1928 and for a time headed the Electrotherapeutic Association. Today, Dr. Stokes remains known for his invention of the "Stokes stretcher", still the primary means for the transport of sick and injured individuals in helicopter rescues and aboard ships.
Medical Pioneer. A surgeon and US Navy Admiral, he significantly modernized the provision of military medicine. Raised in Brooklyn, he attended Adelphi Academy and the Polytechnic Institute in Brooklyn prior to receiving his M.D. from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York (now, Columbia). He served as ambulance surgeon at Chambers Street Hospital, trained at Bellevue Hospital and at Governor Hospital, then joined the Navy on February 1, 1889. After initial service aboard the USS "Minnesota", he was posted to the Naval Hospitals at Mare Island, California, and Yokohama, Japan, and during the Spanish American War was a surgeon on board the USS "Solace". From 1903 until 1906, Dr. Stokes served as President Theodore Roosevelt's personal physician; he was Commanding Officer of the Naval Hospital, San Juan, Puerto Rico, from 1906 to 1908, and during the 1908 Cruise Around the World of the Atlantic Fleet, he commanded the USS "Relief", becoming the first physician ever to command a ship. Dr. Stokes was appointed Surgeon General of the Navy in February of 1910, serving in that capacity until February 6, 1914. During his tenure he strengthened standards for the Medical Corps and established professional training for the enlisted Hospital Corpsmen at the Naval Hospital Corps School, Norfolk, Virginia. In 1913 he became a founder of the American College of Surgeons and a member of that group's first Board of Regents; following his June 1917 retirement from the Navy, he practiced in New York City until 1928 and for a time headed the Electrotherapeutic Association. Today, Dr. Stokes remains known for his invention of the "Stokes stretcher", still the primary means for the transport of sick and injured individuals in helicopter rescues and aboard ships.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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