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An Artist in the Medical Arena

by Denise Hensley

Dr. Michael E. DeBakey

Dr. Michael E. DeBakey

Sketches from the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci in 1510 depicted helicopters that eventually would be used in the modern world, with only minor changes to his original designs. Jules Verne wrote about submarines long before the concept became commonplace.

Just as fantastic and revolutionary for its day were the ideas of Dr. Michael E. DeBakey, an artist in the medical arena who likewise embraced new technology of ingenious magnitude.

When the Michael E. DeBakey Library and Museum opens to the public, it will stand as a landmark to his medical vision and will allow visitors to see for themselves how his scope was futuristic and without the boundaries of conventional protocols. At the groundbreaking ceremony this fall, participants previewed some of the specific inventions contained in his operating theater—from the heart-lung bypass machine he helped to develop to the surgical filming stand he embraced as a way of recording his procedures for educational purposes.

While still in medical school at Tulane University and only 23 years old, DeBakey devised a continuous-flow roller pump for blood transfusions. The full significance of this invention was not realized for another two decades, when it became a major component of the heart-lung machine in the first successful open-heart operation. During his surgical residency, he invented a blood transfusion needle, suture scissors and a colostomy clamp, equipment that advanced all surgical procedures with specialized applications.

The Michael E. DeBakey Library and Museum

The Michael E. DeBakey Library and Museum

To celebrate the construction of the DeBakey Library and Museum, Baylor College of Medicine held a ceremony in the Alkek Lobby that gave visitors a glimpse of medicine in the 1960s and 1970s, as depicted by DeBakey's personal archives and collections.

The Michael E. DeBakey Library and Museum is being constructed on the ground floor of the DeBakey Center for Biomedical Education and Research on the main BCM campus. DeBakey's famed Green Room (conference room) is being replicated and will include his personal awards, photographs and special mementos. A complete vintage operating room will allow visitors to experience a glimpse of the famed surgeon's workplace. Adjacent to the DeBakey Library and Museum, a conference room will contain audio-visual equipment and meeting space.

Construction of the DeBakey Library and Museum is being completed in two phases with the first phase to be finished in July 2007. The facility is expected to be opened to the public in fall 2007.

Dr. DeBakey in the 1950s, 1960s, and present

Dr. DeBakey in the 1950s Dr. DeBakey in the 1960s Dr. DeBakey in 2006
 

Patient Care

Healthy Living for a Thousand, Alex

Tipping the Scale

Rx for Childhood Obesity

Best of Both Worlds

The Listeners

A Pleurality of Promises

Research

Fighting Obesity one Molecule at a Time

Doctors are from Jupiter, Patients are from Saturn

Education

A Lot's Changed in 40 Years... Sort Of

Learning from Young Mothers

Community Service

Weekend Dreamers

Alumni & Development

Building BCM and Biochemistry History

Following Father's Bedside Manner

More than a Street Sign: Advocates for Medicine

The Heroes Among Us

From Science to Science

College News

At the Center of it All

An Artist in the Medical Arena

 

Educating the Next Generation of Leaders

     
 

Volume 2, Issue 3, Fall 2006

   
 

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  Last modified: October 10, 2008