Sara J. Dent was the first chief of Anesthesiology and the first female division chief in the Department of Surgery at Duke University.[1] She assumed this role in 1968 and served as chair until 1971, when Dr. Merel H. Harmel became chair.[2] She conducted the earliest high-impact clinical research in anesthesiology at Duke that focused on postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV).[3]
Dr. Dent was born in South Carolina and also founded the Orange County Rescue Squad located in Hillsborough, NC. She also served as County Coroner before her death in 1999.