A history of The Surgical Clinics of North America.

Begun in 1912 by John Benjamin Murphy, one of America's surgical giants, the Surgical Clinics initially comprised verbatim stenographic reports of clinical talks given by Dr. Murphy. After Murphy's death, the Surgical Clinics resumed publication as the Surgical Clinics of Chicago and focused on case reports from surgeons in a single city or well-known clinic. This format remained largely in place through the mid-1970s, when the Clinics took on their current appearance. This article traces the history of the Surgical Clinics and lists all the clinical subjects discussed and the guest editors or sponsoring institutions.