FRANK McDOWELL

Dr. McDowell interned at Barnes Hospital, St. Louis, 1936-1937 and served a residency in surgery at the same hospital, 1937-1939. One of his teachers was Dr. Evarts Graham, the first surgeon to remove a lung. During his residency he had the good fortune to work with Drs. Vilray Blair, Barrett Brown and Louis Byars, probably the most prominent team of plastic surgeons in the United States.

On June 10, 1934, Dr. McDowell married Miss Mary Elizabeth Neal at Springfield, Missouri. Two sons, Robert Lawrence and George Edward, and a daughter, Carole Louise (Mrs. R. Randall Current), were born to Dr. and Mrs. McDowell.

On the completion of his residency, Dr. McDowell practiced in St. Louis for 25 years and soon made a reputation for himself as one of the most outstanding men in his field of plastic surgery, as a dedicated teacher and as an author and editor of note. He was attending surgeon at St. Louis Children's Hospital, Barnes Hospital, where he served as president of both the medical and surgical staff, and at Allied Hospitals Medical Center. As a consulting surgeon, he was on the staff of Shriners, Frisco, Missouri-Pacific and St. Louis City hospitals. He was a member of the faculty of Washington University School of Medicine from 1939-1969, serving as professor of Surgery and as associate professor of Maxillofacial Surgery in the School of Dentistry.

Dr. McDowell authored 15 books among which were: "Skin Grafting of Burns" (published in 1942, copies of which were given to hospitals of America's World War II Allies and also given by the Red Cross to German and Austrian doctors), "Plastic Surgery of the Nose", "Surgery of the Face, Mouth and Jaws", "Neck Dissection", "Surgical Rehabilitation in Leprosy" and the "McDowell Series of Plastic Surgery Indexes". He also wrote at least 200 medical articles, as well as 12 chapters for inclusion in various medical books. From 1967 to 1979 he was editor-in-chief of the "Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery". On the 50th anniversary of the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons, the editorial board of the "Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery" dedicated the September, 1981, issue to Dr. McDowell and also paid tribute to Mrs. McDowell who worked with him daily in the Honolulu office of the Journal.

A heart attack and the warning that he must slow down brought Dr. McDowell to Honolulu in 1966, where he became professor of surgery at the University of Hawaii Medical School and served on the executive committee of the Department of Surgery. Dr. McDowell was on the staff of the Queen's Medical Center and a consultant for Tripler Army Medical Center, Castle Memorial Hospital and Children's Hospital. From 1970-1976 he was vice-president of the Hawaii Medical Library Board of Governors. In 1971 he was one of a number of outstanding American surgeons who went to China to study the replantation of limbs. In 1969 Dr. McDowell retired as editor of PRS, but continued to work part-time at the Medical School, served as a part-time editor of a new three volume work, "The International Dictionary of Medicine and Biology" and completed a family history, "A McDowell Geneology", which traced the name back to Scotland at the time of Somerled (1130 A.D.).

Dr. McDowell belonged to an impressive number of professional organizations. He was a diplomate of the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Plastic Surgery; a member of the American and the Western Surgical Associations; the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons; the American College of Surgeons; the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma; the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (president 1962-1963); and was a founder of the Society of Head and Neck Surgeons. In 1963 he was vice-president of the Third International Congress of Plastic Surgeons held at Washington, D.C. He was also an honorary member of plastic surgical societies in Israel and France and lectured in many countries.

From 1956 to 1976 Dr. McDowell was a trustee of Drury College, serving as chairman of the Board of Trustees in 1964-1965 and was the recipient of their Distinguished Alumni Award in 1954. He was a member and president (1960-1961) of the Washington University Medical Alumni Association. He won the first Dow Corning International award in Plastic Surgery in 1971. Less than three weeks before his death, he was awarded a certificate of meritorious service for his contributions to the University of Hawaii School of Medicine. At the same time, the establishment of the Frank McDowell Award was announced, an award to be given annually to the fourth-year student who achieves the highest grade in surgery.

Dr. McDowell died in Honolulu on August 31, 1981, at the age of 70. He is survived by his wife, two sons, daughter and three grandchildren.

In an eulogy given on September 4, 1981, at Queen's Medical Center, Dr. Charles Judd spoke of Dr. McDowell's concept of plastic surgery: "This interest denoted a unique quality in Frank, and signified his respect for the human body and its integrity and form. In characterizing surgery as an art, the great French surgeon, Ambroise Pare, 1510-1590, described the five proper duties of a surgeon as follows: (1). To take away what is superfluous, (2). To restore to their places things which are displaced, (3). To separate those things which are joined together, (4). To join those which are separated, and (5). To supply the defects of nature. Such were the principles of plastic surgery that Frank adhered to in his professional work." Dr. Judd concluded his eulogy with these words: "Perhaps a fitting tribute to Dr. McDowell is this quotation from a great Scotch poet, Robbie Burns. It could have been written for Dr. McDowell:

'An honest man here lies at rest, As e'er God with His image blest: The friend of man, the friend of truth The friend of age, the guide of youth: Few hearts like his - with virtue warm'd Few heads with knowledge so inform'd: If there's another world, he lives in bliss If there is none, he made the best of this.'

During the preparation of this biographical sketch, Mrs. McDowell was asked to relate some of her personal recollections of her husband, and she wrote the following informative and delightful account, which follows just as she wrote it.

FRANK McDOWELL M.D.
by Mary McDowell

Shortly after Frank and his parents moved to Springfield, he contracted a severe case of typhoid fever and almost died. Luckily, his parents had a sympathetic family doctor who faithfully came to the house every day to see Frank. This inspired him to become a doctor. His mother taught him to read and to do simple arithmetic problems while he was recuperating. This gave him a "headstart" when he started to school the next year.

While Frank was in high school, he learned to play the oboe, clarinet, and saxophone. He played in the high school band and the high school orchestra, and he also made some pocket money by playing with dance bands around town.

He entered college as a music major, and on a music scholarship. For a long time, he could not make up his mind whether to go into medicine or music. Many doctors seem to have this same affinity for music. After a year of music, Frank changed his major to premedicine, partly because he admired my father, Dr. Roland Neal, head of the Department of Chemistry. My father encouraged him and privately he told me that Frank was probably the smartest student he had ever had. We started going together when he was a sophomore, but did not get married until five years later when he was in medical school. In those days, it was unusual for a medical student to get married.

Frank was able to start medical school because several of his relatives gave him small loans. When he got to St. Louis he heard about a job teaching chemistry in an embalming school and made a supreme effort to get it. He even made a trip to Iowa to see the owner of the college, having to beg rides all the way. He taught before and after med. school and during his lunch hours. After we were married, I got a job working in the Admitting Office of Washington University Clinics, so was able to support both of us while Frank was interning. In those days the interns did not receive any pay at the better hospitals.

Frank really wanted to be a plastic surgeon after his residency. There was no vacancy at that time in the Blair, Brown, Byars office, but Frank was so persistent that they finally made a place for him and he stayed with them all the time he practiced in St. Louis.

During World War II, Dr. Brown was appointed as Chief of Plastic Surgery, Maxillofacial Surgery and Burns for the U.S. Army. (Dr. Blair had held the same position in World War I). Dr. Brown left immediately for London. Frank took over his practice and within a few days was "frozen" by the Surgeon General as one of the three teachers of surgery under the age of 55 left at Washington University. Every 6 weeks the army sent him a class of about 20 general surgeons for a quick course in plastic surgery, so they could take care of war wounds better. They were given 40 hours of instruction in the care of facial injuries every week.

It was during this busy time that the need for a textbook on skin grafting became apparent, so Frank began to write it late at night on our dining room table after the two babies were (supposedly) in bed. Dr. Brown had many photographs of patients which they used for the book.

Frank loved to travel, so we always saved up enough money to go to some far-away place. Frank was a whiz in geography, so he always knew what to expect before he even went to a country. I told him I was good at directions, too, but he said he would ask me and go the opposite way and it was always right! Frank's love of travel fitted in nicely with the invitations he received to speak and teach at foreign medical centers. We took the children whenever we could, although none of our friends did. They said they were going to wait until the children were old enough to get something out of it. (By that time, they didn't want to go with their parents). The children soaked up a lot more than you would think they would.

Frank was a very hard-working person, but with it all he remained a modest, refined, lovable man and I miss him very much.

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