Vivian Green Medical Pioneer

Vivian Thomas (1910-1985)

Viviam Thomas was born in New Iberia, Lousisana, the son of an carpenter. His family moved to Nashville where he later graduated from high school with honors. Vivian had an older brother who also became a teacher. His brother was involved in the Brown vs Broad Case.

In 1929 Vivian lost his tution money he was saving for medical school, because of an October Stock market crash. With no money to contine medical school Vivian had to take a job as an janitor, working at the Vanderbelt University. Vivian later married and had two girls; his financial problems were getting worse. His wife wanted to help out, but he didn't want her to work. He told her that he'll just have to work more and long hours and put medical school on hold.

Vivian was the janitor working on Dr. Blalock's Shift and saw the experiment he was working on. Dr. Blalock was working on an shock experment. Vivian suggested that he try something different. Dr. Blalock agreed; he saw how vivian worked without even writing down any procedures that he used and Vivian told him that he didn't need it, it was all in his head. Dr. Blalock liked the way vivian worked and hired vivian to work on his team as an laboratory technician. Vivian and Dr. Blalock started performing operations on animals that advanced Dr. Blalock studies of high blood pressure and traumatic shock. Vivian also invented special devices that could apply varying levels of pressure. The worked created a new understanding of shock, showing that shock was linked to the loss of fluid and blood volume. Dr. Blalock was surprised thst vivian could do this with only one year of medical school.

After that experiment Vivian didn't get any recognition, only Dr. Blalock got it. After hearing this Vivian's brother suggested that he leave the hospital, but Vivian wanted to keep working with Dr. Blalock. He did so much for Vivian, by letting him work with him with little experience. When Dr. Blalock became chief surgeon at Johns Hopkins University's medical school in 1941, he insisted that Vivian be hired to join his team of other doctors. There Vivian and Blalock pioneered the field of heart surgery with a procedure to alleviate a congenital heart defect, the

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