Letter from Ralph M. Waters to Virginia Apgar

Waters established the first anesthesiology residency program at the University of Wisconsin in 1927, and Virginia Apgar was one of the residents in early 1937. When she became chief of the Division of Anesthesia at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in 1938, she consulted her mentor on several issues. Here, Apgar had asked Waters about the best way to handle relations with surgeons and other attending physicians. Waters' response reveals much about the challenges faced by physician-anesthesiologists as part of the operating room team during this period.