Roy Glenwood "Glen" Spurling (September 6, 1894 in

Centralia, Missouri Centralia is a city in Boone County in the U.S. state of Missouri. The population was 4,541 at the 2020 census, with an estimated population of 4,244 in 2018. A very small portion of the city lies in Audrain County. The Boone County portion of ...

– February 7, 1968 in La Jolla, California) was an American

neurosurgeon Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...

remembered for describing Spurling's test.

Biography

R. Glen Spurling studied at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

(

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

1920,

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

1923) and

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

, receiving his

M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. ...

with honours in 1923. He undertook his

internship An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and gover ...

Peter Bent Brigham Hospital Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) is the second largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and the largest hospital in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Along with Massachusetts General Hospital, it is one of the two f ...

under

Harvey Cushing Harvey Williams Cushing (April 8, 1869 – October 7, 1939) was an American neurosurgeon, pathologist, writer, and draftsman. A pioneer of brain surgery, he was the first exclusive neurosurgeon and the first person to describe Cushing's disease. ...

, who inspired him to practice neurosurgery. He became neurosurgical consultant to the Louisville General Hospital in 1925, during his surgical residency. He founded the neurosurgery service at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one o ...

medical school in 1926, and remained in charge there until he retired in 1960. He formed the

American Association of Neurological Surgeons The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) is a scientific and educational association focused on advancing the specialty of neurological surgery. The organization has over 8,000 members around the world. It is one of the five Cont ...

in 1931, becoming president in 1934, and was one of the founder members, and later president, of the American Board of Neurological Surgery. He published ''Practical Neurological Diagnosis, with Special Reference to Problems of Neurosurgery'' in 1935.Roy Glenwood Spurling, MD
at The Society of Neurological Surgeons (The 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th editions were published in 1944, 1950, 1953, and 1960, respectively.) During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

he was the first Chief of Neurosurgery at the

Walter Reed General Hospital The Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC)known as Walter Reed General Hospital (WRGH) until 1951was the U.S. Army's flagship medical center from 1909 to 2011. Located on in the District of Columbia, it served more than 150,000 active and reti ...

and organised the neurosurgical service for the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

while serving as Assistant Chief of General Surgery. He was posted to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in March 1944 with responsibility for neurosurgery in the

European theatre The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and ending with the ...

. While travelling home in 1945 he was summoned to return to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

to attend

General Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...

, at the request of Patton's wife, after the car accident that caused Patton's death. He became an editor of the ''

Journal of Neurosurgery The ''Journal of Neurosurgery'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering all aspects of neurosurgery. It is published by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the editor-in-chief is James Rutka. It was established in 1944 ...

'' during the Second World War, and later became chairman of the editorial board, remaining an advisor until his death. He was awarded an honorary

D.Sc. Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

in 1957 by the University of Missouri,Archives of the University of Missouri
/ref> and was given the title ''Distinguished Professor of Neurological Surgery'' by the University of Louisville on his retirement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spurling, Roy Glenwood 1894 births 1968 deaths People from Centralia, Missouri United States Army personnel of World War II American neurosurgeons University of Missouri alumni Harvard Medical School alumni 20th-century surgeons United States Army Medical Corps officers