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How To Find Information On Vivien Thomas
Vivien Thomas
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivien_Thomas
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Pioneering Research in Surgical Shock and Cardiovascular Surgery by Vivien T. Thomas
Call Number: RD27.35.T46 A38 1985
ISBN: 9780585127453
Publication Date: 1985-01-01
Vivien Theodore Thomas (August 29, 1910[1] – November 26, 1985)[2] was an American laboratory supervisor who developed a procedure used to treat Blue Baby Syndrome
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How Vivien Thomas changed medicine and became a symbol of fighting racism in science: His contribution to the treatment of Tetralogy of Fallot
Abstract
The story of Vivien Thomas (1910-1985) is about a person who changed the course of cardiothoracic surgery. Through double standards and prejudice in society, due to the color of his skin, his accomplishments were not duly recognized.
Together with the physician Alfred Blalock (1899-1964) and cardiologist Helen Taussig (1898-1986), Vivien Thomas developed a method of arterial shunting that helped to save the lives of thousands of children with congenital "blue baby" heart defects, including tetralogy of Fallot. Thomas was the first to perform a successful shunt operation on a dog's heart (1944) and also produced the necessary tools for its successful implementation.
Only at the age of 60 did he receive recognition for his years of work and was awarded a doctoral degree. He became the first Black person whose portrait was hung at Johns Hopkins University alongside presidents and professors of the university. His story inspired the creation of the films "Something the Lord Made" (2004) and "Partners of the Heart" (2003).
This article aims to shed light on the unrecognized contributions of Vivien Thomas and to call for the addition of his name to the Blalock-Thomas- Taussig shunt, which would be a just recognition of his contributions to the history of medicine, despite the skin color.
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- American SurgeonSutton, E., & Valerie, M. R. (2021). Impact of the lack of diversity within surgery career pathways and mitigating factors. The American Surgeon, 87(11), 1713-1717. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/00031348211034755
The lack of diversity in surgical career pathways impacts the cultural competence of the learning and working environment, the variety of leadership styles found within surgical leadership, and the ability of an organization to achieve equity in the workplace due to ongoing mistrust and untouched bias. Leading mitigating factors include developing pathways for greater numbers of diverse people at the high school and college level and implicit bias training. Though educators have had some success with these factors in the initial stages of diversifying early pathways, these factors are not yet correlated to entry into a surgical career. Future solutions to the lack of diversity in surgery will be predicated on surgeons collectively valuing justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Tiny Stitches by Call Number: RD 99 .H66 2016ISBN: 9781620141564Publication Date: 2016-05-01NAACP Image Award Winner, NAACP Lasting Connection Title, Book Links Choices, Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) Top Ten Science and Health Books for Youth, Booklist The life story of Vivien Thomas, an African American surgical technician who developed the first procedure used to perform open-heart surgery on children. Vivien Thomas's greatest dream was to attend college to study medicine. But after the stock market crashed in 1929, Vivien lost all his savings. Then he heard about a job opening at the Vanderbilt University medical school under the supervision of Dr. Alfred Blalock. Vivien knew that the all-white school would never admit him as a student, but he hoped working there meant he was getting closer to his dream. As Dr. Blalock's research assistant, Vivien learned surgical techniques. In 1943, Vivien was asked to help Dr. Helen Taussig find a cure for children with a specific heart defect. After months of experimenting, Vivien developed a procedure that was used for the first successful open-heart surgery on a child. Afterward, Dr. Blalock and Dr. Taussig announced their innovative new surgical technique, the Blalock-Taussig shunt. Vivien's name did not appear in the report. Overcoming racism and resistance from his colleagues, Vivien ushered in a new era of medicine--children's heart surgery. Tiny Stitches is the compelling story of this incredible pioneer in medicine.
