Vivien T. Thomas - African American Supervisor of Surgical Research Laboratories
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| Audience/Grade: | College Freshman - Continuing Education |
| Discipline(s): |
Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering Engineering Diversity |
| Special Topic(s): |
Black and African American Scientists and Engineers History of Technology |
| Learning Resource Type: | Reference - Article/Document |
| Media Type: | WWW |
| Author(s): | Johns Hopkins Medical Archives |
| Description: | " Vivien T. Thomas was a key player in pioneering the anastomosis of the subclavian artery to the pulmonary artery.The surgical work he performed with Alfred Blalock paved the way for the successful outcome of the Blalock-Taussig shunt. In January 1930, Vivien Thomas, a young African-American who was forced for lack of funds to leave his first year of college, came to work for Blalock in his laboratory. At that point Blalock's increasing obligations were cutting into the time he could spend in the laboratory and he needed a surgical assistant. A more fortunate choice could not have been made. Vivien Thomas learned to perform the surgical operations and chemical determinations needed for their experiments, to calculate the results, and to keep precise records; he remained an invaluable associate throughout Blalock's career. Thomas supervised the surgical laboratories at Hopkins for over 35 years, and in 1976 he was appointed instructor in surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In 1979, upon his retirement, he became instructor emeritus of surgery. Vivien Thomas's achievements were widely recognized by his colleagues. In 1976, he was awarded the honorary degree Doctor of Laws, by the Johns Hopkins University." |
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| Keywords: | African American scientist, open heart surgery |
| Usage Tip | |
| Use of Resource: | History of technology and African American role model. |
| Difficulty: | Medium |
| Interactivity Level: | Very Low |
| Version Info | |
| Publication Date: | November 2007 |
| Platform/Format: | WWW |
| Cost: | Free |
| Download URL: | http://medicalarchives.jhmi.edu/vthomas.htm |
| Metadata: | IEEE LOM Record |
| Collection: |
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