R. Wheeless, Jr., M.D.
Associate
Professor of
Gynecology
and Obstetrics
Johns Hopkins School of
Medicine
Clifford R. Wheeless, Jr., M.D., F.A.C.O.G., F.A.C.S.
With more than 40 years in the practice of medicine, Clifford Roberts Wheeless, Jr., M.D. has a national reputation for his work in the field of laparoscopy, gynecologic oncology and pelvic reconstructive surgery. Certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dr. Wheeless is a Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the American College of Surgeons, and the Southern Surgical Association. He also has subspecialty certification by the Division of Gynecologic Oncology.
A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Dr. Wheeless received his medical degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1964. He has been a member of The Johns Hopkins Medical Institution since serving as an intern, resident and chief resident in the Department of Gynecology. While at Hopkins, Dr. Wheeless trained under renowned physicians Drs. Richard TeLinde, Howard Jones, Georgiana Jones and Donald Woodruff. He would complete his Fellowship in Gynecologic Oncology under distinguished surgeon, Dr. John Graham, at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY.
Dr. Wheeless began his career in private practice in Baltimore, Maryland with Drs. TeLinde, Wharton and Dorsey. In 1972, he was named Project Director for the International Sterilization Training Program where he was instrumental in developing laparoscopy as an outpatient technique for sterilization and gynecologic diagnosis.
In 1978 Dr. Wheeless accepted the Chairmanship of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore. He rebuilt the hospital's residency program, emphasizing gynecologic surgery, and also developed a pelvic surgery fellowship program.
In 1990, Dr. Wheeless left Union to become Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics and the Division Director of Gynecologic Oncology in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Emory University. By 1994, he had come back to Baltimore where he began practicing gynecologic oncology, teaching residents and continuing his fellowship program at Sinai Hospital. Dr. Wheeless would return to Hopkins as a full time faculty member in 2000, finally retiring from the Hopkins School of Medicine in 2003. He remains a Clinical Associate Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics at Hopkins.
Dr. Wheeless has devoted significant time to the epidemic problem of birth trauma and fistulas in the developing world. He continues his role as educator, publishing extensively in his field, traveling worldwide to provide care and teach local physicians.