Nina Braunwald: a female pioneer in cardiac surgery

Sabharwal, Nikhil, Dev, Harmanjit, Smail, Hassiba, McGiffin, David C., and Saxena, Pankaj (2017) Nina Braunwald: a female pioneer in cardiac surgery. Texas Heart Institute Journal, 44 (2). pp. 96-100.

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Abstract

Nina Starr Braunwald, the first female cardiac surgeon, made headlines during a time when almost all specialty surgeons were men.

Women have typically been deterred from entering surgical specialties, in part because of their traditional dual burden of managing their households and careers. Instead, female medical students and junior doctors have tended to be more attracted to medical specialties. This was the reality during Dr. Braunwald's venture into medicine in 1949. However, she never allowed negative ideas to keep her from joining a surgical training program.

Under the mentorship of the prominent cardiac surgeons Charles Hufnagel and Andrew Morrow, Dr. Braunwald progressed in her career by conducting research that led to her development and implantation of the first prosthetic mitral valve. She was also a great teacher.

Dr. Braunwald balanced her personal and professional activities admirably, and her example still inspires female doctors to consider careers in cardiothoracic surgery. In this report, we provide details of her impact on cardiac surgery and insights into her successes.

Item ID: 50699
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1526-6702
Keywords: Braunwald NS, cardiac surgical procedures history, heart valve prosthesis history, heart-lung machine, history, 20th century, physicians women history, thoracic surgery history, United States
Date Deposited: 20 Sep 2017 11:07
FoR Codes: 32 BIOMEDICAL AND CLINICAL SCIENCES > 3201 Cardiovascular medicine and haematology > 320199 Cardiovascular medicine and haematology not elsewhere classified @ 50%
50 PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES > 5002 History and philosophy of specific fields > 500203 History and philosophy of medicine @ 50%
SEO Codes: 95 CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING > 9505 Understanding Past Societies > 950599 Understanding Past Societies not elsewhere classified @ 100%
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