Sterling Bunnell, MD: the founding father.

Abstract

Sterling Bunnell, MD, was the key person in the founding of the specialty of hand surgery in the United States. In 1944 he published Surgery of the Hand, which was to remain the authoritative hand text for almost 30 years. At about the same time he organized and was the guiding light of 9 United States Army Hand Centers spread throughout the United States. For the most part the surgeons who directed these hand centers became the founders of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand.