Donald Guthrie

Donald Guthrie (June 23, 1880 – October 30, 1958) was an American surgeon, best known for establishing Guthrie Clinic in Sayre, Pennsylvania in 1910. One of nation's earliest multi-specialty group medical practices, Guthrie based the formation of the clinic that bears his name on the principles he learned while a surgical resident (1906 - 1909) at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. Early life Guthrie was born into a prominent family in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. His father, George W. Guthrie, MD, was a physician and surgeon in Northeast Pennsylvania. His mother, Sarah Hollenbeck Wright Guthrie, was from a pioneering industrial family, tracing her ancestry to Matthias Hollenback, one of the oldest families in Bradford County, Pennsylvania. Donald Guthrie received his early education in schools in Wilkes-Barre; received a degree in philosophy from Yale University in 1901; followed by a medical degree in 1905 from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. After Guthrie's death, a "Donald Guthrie Professorship in Surgery" was created in his honor at both Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania. Group practice model After serving a year and a half at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital as an intern, Guthrie went to Rochester, Minnesota, where for three years and four months (1906 - 1909) he was a member of the staff of physicians and surgeons as a resident working alongside Charles Horace Mayo, William James Mayo (sons of William Worrall Mayo), and E. Starr Judd, early pioneers of the medical group practice model being developed at Mayo. Guthrie was the first "Easterner" to be formally trained at Mayo performed and assisted in nearly 4,000 operations while at Mayo. The benefits to patients of a group practice that Guthrie learned under the tutelage of William and Charles Mayo had a profound effect on him. Those values of putting the needs of the patient first, teamwork, and excellence in patient care, became the foundation of the group practice that bears his name. These values continue to guide Guthrie Clinic today.