The founding of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine fundamentally changed medicine in America. In the blink of an eye, medicine was transformed from a trade practiced by poorly educated craftsmen, to a science practiced by highly educated physicians. While this transformation may seem perfectly obvious in retrospect, the challenges were significant. In the fourth session of this lecture-based course, join Ralph Hruban, MD, Director of Pathology and Distinguished Alumnus as he tells the story of the founding of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine through the lives of Dorothy Reed, Helen Taussig, Vivien Thomas.

In the fourth and final week, we will chronicle three lives; each marked by great accomplishment and unimaginable discrimination. Two of the three, Vivien Thomas and Helen Taussig, were critical contributors to the birth of cardiac surgery- the “Blue Baby” operation.
- Dorothy Reed was a member of the School of Medicine’s class of 1900. As a fellow she made a ground breaking discovery. She identified and characterized the cell that causes Hodgkin Lymphoma, the cell we now call the “Reed-Sternberg cell.” Her reward? She was denied a faculty position at Hopkins because of her sex.
- The grandson of a slave, Vivien Thomas conducted the critical experiments that formed the basis of the “Blue baby” heart operations at Hopkins. He stood at the side of the surgeon Alfred Blalock and guided him during the first operation. Vivien’s work was masterful, as described by Alfred Blalock; “Vivien, this looks like something the Lord made.” Yet, because of his race, Vivien was not allowed to enter the hospital through the main entrance. He had to enter through a back door.
- The “mother of pediatric cardiology,” Helen Taussig made a critical observation that led to the “Blue Baby” operation. Nearly deaf later in life, her clinical skills were so great that she was able to use the feel of her fingers to determine the rhythm of a baby’s heartbeat.

References:
1. Dorothy in a Man’s World. By Peter Dawson. CreativeSpace Independent Publishing, 2016.
2. Partners of the Heart: Vivien Thomas and His Work with Alfred Blalock: An Autobiography. By Vivien T. Thomas. University of Pennsylvania Press.
3. Something the Lord Made (DVD). Starring Alan Rickman and Mos Def. HBO Home Movie Video, 2004.
4. https://youtu.be/tPhVQHYDRTI YouTube video on Vivien Thomas
5. PBS documentary on "Partners of the Hearts" https://sparkmedia.org/projects/partners-of-the-heart/#