The Quarterly Supplement

Crippling arthritis forced anesthesiologist Francis H. McMechan, M.D. (1879-1939) into early retirement. He then threw his considerable energies into uniting this still-fledgling medical specialty. He helped to found, and led, both the American Association of Anesthetists (AAA) and the National Anesthesia Research Society (NARS.)

Dr. McMechan partnered with the monthly American Journal of Surgery (AJS) to create and edit The Quarterly Supplement of Anesthesia and Analgesia, which reached an important national audience. AJS published the Quarterly Supplement from October, 1914 through April, 1926. For some years, this served as the official organ of AAA, NARS, and the New York Society of Anesthetists (later the American Society of Anesthesiologists.)

The Quarterly Supplement carried some of the first reports of the use of anesthesia in American military hospitals during WWI, and the improved outcomes of  anesthesia care by physician specialists. While editing the Supplement, Dr. McMechan also created a new organization, the National Anesthesia Research Society, as well as its journal, Current Researches in Anesthesia & Analgesia. Now called Anesthesia & Analgesia, it has been in continuous publication since 1922.