Eugene Braunwald and the Rise of Modern Medicine
Since the 1950s, the death rate from heart attacks has plunged from 35 percent to about 5 percent—and fatalistic attitudes toward this disease and many others have faded into history. Much of the improved survival and change in attitudes can be traced to the work of Eugene Braunwald, MD. In the 1960s, he proved that myocardial infarction was not a “bolt from the blue” but a dynamic process that plays out over hours and thus could be altered by treatment. By redirecting cardiology from passive, risk-averse observation to active intervention, he helped transform not just his own field but the culture of American medicine.

Braunwald’s personal story demonstrates how the forces of history affected the generation of researchers responsible for so many medical advances in the second half of the twentieth century. In 1938 Nazi occupiers forced his family to flee Vienna for Brooklyn. Because of Jewish quotas in medical schools, he was the last person admitted to his class, but went on to graduate number one. When the Doctor Draft threatened to interrupt his medical training during the Korean War, he joined the National Institutes of Health instead of the Navy, and there he began the research that made him the most influential cardiologist of his time.

In Eugene Braunwald and the Rise of Modern Medicine, Thomas H. Lee offers insights that only authoritative firsthand interviews can provide, to bring us closer to this iconic figure in modern medicine.

"1115097697"
Eugene Braunwald and the Rise of Modern Medicine
Since the 1950s, the death rate from heart attacks has plunged from 35 percent to about 5 percent—and fatalistic attitudes toward this disease and many others have faded into history. Much of the improved survival and change in attitudes can be traced to the work of Eugene Braunwald, MD. In the 1960s, he proved that myocardial infarction was not a “bolt from the blue” but a dynamic process that plays out over hours and thus could be altered by treatment. By redirecting cardiology from passive, risk-averse observation to active intervention, he helped transform not just his own field but the culture of American medicine.

Braunwald’s personal story demonstrates how the forces of history affected the generation of researchers responsible for so many medical advances in the second half of the twentieth century. In 1938 Nazi occupiers forced his family to flee Vienna for Brooklyn. Because of Jewish quotas in medical schools, he was the last person admitted to his class, but went on to graduate number one. When the Doctor Draft threatened to interrupt his medical training during the Korean War, he joined the National Institutes of Health instead of the Navy, and there he began the research that made him the most influential cardiologist of his time.

In Eugene Braunwald and the Rise of Modern Medicine, Thomas H. Lee offers insights that only authoritative firsthand interviews can provide, to bring us closer to this iconic figure in modern medicine.

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Eugene Braunwald and the Rise of Modern Medicine

Eugene Braunwald and the Rise of Modern Medicine

by Thomas H. Lee
Eugene Braunwald and the Rise of Modern Medicine

Eugene Braunwald and the Rise of Modern Medicine

by Thomas H. Lee

Hardcover

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Overview

Since the 1950s, the death rate from heart attacks has plunged from 35 percent to about 5 percent—and fatalistic attitudes toward this disease and many others have faded into history. Much of the improved survival and change in attitudes can be traced to the work of Eugene Braunwald, MD. In the 1960s, he proved that myocardial infarction was not a “bolt from the blue” but a dynamic process that plays out over hours and thus could be altered by treatment. By redirecting cardiology from passive, risk-averse observation to active intervention, he helped transform not just his own field but the culture of American medicine.

Braunwald’s personal story demonstrates how the forces of history affected the generation of researchers responsible for so many medical advances in the second half of the twentieth century. In 1938 Nazi occupiers forced his family to flee Vienna for Brooklyn. Because of Jewish quotas in medical schools, he was the last person admitted to his class, but went on to graduate number one. When the Doctor Draft threatened to interrupt his medical training during the Korean War, he joined the National Institutes of Health instead of the Navy, and there he began the research that made him the most influential cardiologist of his time.

In Eugene Braunwald and the Rise of Modern Medicine, Thomas H. Lee offers insights that only authoritative firsthand interviews can provide, to bring us closer to this iconic figure in modern medicine.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780674724976
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Publication date: 09/09/2013
Pages: 400
Product dimensions: 5.80(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Thomas H. Lee is Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Network President at Partners HealthCare.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Introduction: The Window 1

1 Flight from Europe, 1929-1939 7

2 An American Education, 1939-1948 22

3 Medical Education and Training, 1948-1952 32

4 Internship and Research at Mount Sinai and Bellevue, 1952-1955 59

5 Clinical Associate at the NIH, 1955-1957 75

6 Johns Hopkins Hospital, 1957-1958 96

7 The "Golden Years" at the NIH, 1958-1968 114

8 Building a Medical School in San Diego, 1968-1972 178

9 Rebuilding the Brigham, 1972-1980 214

10 Growth and Integration, 1980-1996 247

11 Research in Evolution 276

12 Textbooks and Education in Evolution 312

13 The Still Years 327

Appendix: Impact on the Field 343

Notes 355

Index 371

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