Who founded the UC nurse anesthesia program and in what year?

• A. Alice Magaw, 1945
• B. Helen Lamb, 1940
• C. Mary Alice Costello, 1945
• D. Sister Mary Bernard, 1938

Answer: (C)

The main idea here is recognizing who established the University of California’s nurse anesthesia program and when it began. Mary Alice Costello is the figure credited with founding the UC nurse anesthesia program, in 1945. This marks a key moment when nurse anesthesia education moved from informal, hospital-based training into a formal university-affiliated program with an organized curriculum and clinical standards. That shift reflected the broader push in the profession during the mid-20th century to professionalize nurse anesthesia, ensure consistent training, and align with emerging certification pathways. Other early pioneers in anesthesia education contributed foundational ideas and programs at different institutions and times, but the UC program’s founding is specifically attributed to Costello in 1945.