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As part of BWH's BluePrint celebration, BWH Bulletin features this special section to explore the past, present and future of the institution. Throughout 2013, you'll find a new fun fact, story, photo or tradition in each issue of Bulletin.
Approximately 200 BWH leaders, physicians, trainees and alumni from the Department of Surgery gathered at the Sheraton Boston on May 18 for the Centennial Celebration Colloquium, a day-long BluePrint-themed event honoring the department’s rich history.
“We have a proud legacy of surgical achievements, from the first heart valve surgery in 1923 to the first kidney transplant in 1954 to the cutting-edge face and hand transplants and minimally invasive surgeries of today,” said BWH President Betsy Nabel, MD. “Thank you all for your contributions to our rich history. We are so proud that you are part of our Brigham family and so excited to see what our future holds.”
The celebration featured updates from Surgery’s divisions—Cardiac, Thoracic, Urology, General, Surgical Oncology, Otolargyngology, Vascular, Transplant, Plastic and the Center for Surgery and Public Health—as well as the sharing of stories by alumni through the decades, dating back to the 1950s. An emotional time for speakers and guests alike, several alumni teared up at the podium as they shared fond memories of their time at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and of the teachers they learned from.
One of the younger alumni, Jennifer Rabaglia, MD, visiting from UT Southwestern Medical Center, represented the 2000s with a talk called “On the Shoulders of Giants.” She shared: “I am not sure what the next 50 years will hold, but this celebration certainly serves as inspiration for many of us to push the boundaries while maintaining our incredible, storied tradition.”
Attendees also participated in tours of BWH and the Shapiro Cardiovascular Center, the AMIGO suite and the STRATUS Center. Collector and philanthropist Frederic A. Sharf, a longtime BWH friend and donor, was present for the tour’s stop at the Nurses’ Uniform Exhibit, a display made possible by his generosity.
BWH’s own distinguished surgeon, writer and researcher Atul Gawande, MD, MPH, presented an inspiring keynote address about the changing delivery of medicine and BWH’s role in this transformation.
“The event was a wonderful opportunity to bring together alumni from as far back as the 1950s to present-day trainees,” said Surgery Chair Michael Zinner, MD. “Everyone felt so incredibly proud to have been here at BWH and to see the special work that continues to go on.”
During the dinner program, letters from the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital’s 1963 time capsule were shared, as was a portion of a video of the hospital’s first Surgeon-in-Chief, Dr. Harvey Cushing, performing a surgery in 1932.
“BWH is a very special place to many of us,” said Zinner. “Although now we’re a large 770-bed hospital, we still think of ourselves as a small 220-bed family-style hospital. The sense of family here was reiterated time and time again during the celebration.”
To read or listen to excerpts from the time capsule letters that were shared, visit brighamandwomens.org/online/blueprint/time-capsule.aspx.
On May 17, the Department of Surgery held another notable celebration-this one to honor John Mannick, MD, who served as BWH's chairman of Surgery and the Moseley Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School from 1976 until his retirement in 1994.
"He was the consummate academic surgeon," said Surgery Chair Michael Zinner, MD. "His busy clinical practice of the most complex cases made him one of the national and international leaders as vascular surgery developed into a specialty. He was a true leader in surgical research and a dedicated educator of residents and fellows."
The gathering at the Seaport Hotel was a celebration of Mannick's mentorship and academic leadership. It featured remarks by Zinner; Chief of the Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Michael Belkin, MD; Chief of the Division of Gastrointestinal and General Surgery Francis Moore, Jr., MD; and Associate Chief of Plastic Surgery Dennis Orgill, MD, PhD.
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