Christopher J. Wong
Nason P. Hamlin
Editors
2013
Perioperative medical consultation is an exciting and evolving fi eld of medicine. At the University of Washington Medical Center, medicine consultation as a separate endeavor began in the late 1980s with general medicine attendings taking medicine consultation calls in addition to their primary care practices. In the early 1990s, a formal Medicine Consult Service was developed, with early pioneers including Dominic Reilly, MD, and Diane Doerner, MD. Patients were seen on the inpatient wards and in the surgical clinics. By 1995, however, the Medicine Consult Service began its own small clinic in a shared space. Over the ensuing years, the Medicine Consult Service has expanded in number of staff, patients seen, and clinic size.