The Baltimore Infirmary

In 1823, Maryland became the first medical school in the U.S. to build its own hospital for clinical instruction. The 60-bed infirmary was financed by the faculty at a cost of $14,109 and required $2,520 for furnishings.

In 1918, Burt J. Asper, class of 1911, was the ship’s surgeon for the U.S.S. Cyclops when it mysteriously vanished in the Bermuda Triangle. The auxiliary ship was delivering coal to Navy Warships and was last seen departing Rio de Janeiro for Baltimore. The ship was never found.

Burt J. Asper, Class of 1911

Dr. Krantz administering his Fluoromar.

In 1953, Dr. John C. Krantz Jr., a pharmacologist and head of Maryland’s department of pharmacology, introduced Fluoromar—trifluoroethyl vinyl ether—the first fluorinated anesthetic. Fluoromar and other halogenated anesthetics that followed allowed patients to be deeply anesthetized with precise concentrations of a potent, nonflammable (unlike ether) anesthetic.