ISBN: 0-88739-424-8
204 pp.
Size: 6 x 9
Pub Date: 8/2002
Paperback Original
Price: $16.95
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Maverick Among the Moguls
The Adventurous Career of a Pioneer Cardiac Surgeon
Benson B. Roe, M.D.
Benson Roe relates his emergence from a mundane, comfortable, middle class background and education into an exciting and unexpected career in the hallowed halls of medicine and surgery. A career highlighted by the development of open heart surgery spans the Great Depression, World War II, the earliest phases of modern intensive surgical training, the emergence of basic science into clinical surgery, and the explosive growth of the new specialty.
Trained as a thoracic surgeon, Benson Roe took on the burgwoning need for cardiac surgery when procedures were in their infancy. Experience and mentors provided the basis for his many technical contributions and research projects. In a setting devoid of textbooks, Roe forged ahead in his quest to learn new ways of saving lives during the postwar era, when more people in America were dying of heart disease than ever before.
Academic and professional roles in national surgical politics allowed him the freedom to tackle controversial issues, earning him the reputation of a "boat rocker." His innovative and organizational skills helped shape the character and integrity of the new specialty of cardio-thoracic surgery. Dr. Benson Roe was one of an adventurous, risk-taking cadre of surgeons who eschewed safe elitism for dedication.
Review: "[Dr. Benson B. Roe] is fascinating on his successes in improving educational and practical standards in the burgeoning field of thoracic surgery and on his widespread travels."
-Booklist
"For older clinicians, this book gives life to fading memories of mentors and colleagues during a truly exciting time in cardiothoracic surgery; for younger doctors and lay persons, it reads with hope for our futures."
-Edward D. Harris, Jr., M.D.
George DeForest Barnett Professor at Stanford University of Medicine
and Editor, The Pharos, of Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society
Bio: BENSON B. ROE, M.D. is a fourth-generation Californian. A graduate of UC Berkeley and Harvard Medical School, Dr. Roe has retired from practice, but serves as Emeritus Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of California at San Francisco.
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