Carleton Mathewson, MD
(Mattie)
Carleton Mathewson was born in Calistoga, California in 1902 and was raised in Fresno. He entered University of California at Berkeley at age 17, but after one year transferred to Stanford. where he received his bachelor’s degree in 1923 and his M.D. in 1927.
He then enrolled in the rotating internship at San Francisco General Hospital where he spent two years as Stanford surgical house officer. Dr. Mathewson was interested in orthopedics, so he applied and was accepted at the University of Iowa, where he spent six months training, followed by a position at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh for another six months. After that he earned a position at University Surgical Clinic in Jena, Germany, where he remained from 1930-1933. Upon his return to San Francisco, he was hired as Chief Assistant of the Stanford Surgical Service at San Francisco General Hospital and was appointed assistant professor, supervising medical students and residents.
When Stanford organized the 59th Evacuation Hospital, Dr. Mathewson joined as its Chief of Surgery. By the time he was discharged in 1946, he had been promoted to a full colonel and had been awarded the Legion of Merit, the European-African campaign medal, and five campaign stars.
On his return from the World War II in 1946, Dr. Mathewson was welcomed back to San Francisco General Hospital, where he served as chief of the Stanford Service and was appointed associate professor and later professor. He also was appointed Secretary of the American Board of Surgery, which had been formed in 1936, but hadn’t implemented their certification program. As a result, Dr. Mathewson played a major role in implementing the standards for training and qualifications for Board certification in Surgery.
When Stanford moved from San Francisco to Palo Alto in 1960, the University of California (U.C.) took professional responsibility for San Francisco General Hospital. Choosing to stay on at San Francisco General, Dr. Mathewson changed allegiances and served as U.C. Professor and Chief of the U.C. Gold Surgical Service until his obligatory retirement age at 65 in 1967.
Dr. Mathewson passed away in 1989.
