Before 1952, open heart surgery was considered science fiction. The heart was off limits to surgeons despite more than half a million Americans dying annually from heart disease. Doing nothing was the strategy. However, the status quo would soon change thanks to a few brave and imaginative surgeons who dared to break the most rigid of medical taboos: Do not touch the human heart. We sat down with Dr. Gerald Imber, author of the new book “Cardiac Cowboys: The Heroic Invention of Heart Surgery” to discuss how five men raced to invent an entirely new field of surgery. Guests: Jessica Millar, MD- General Surgery Resident- University of Michigan; Education Fellow- Behind the Knife Nick Teman, MD- Associate Professor of Cardiac Surgery and Critical Care- University of Virginia Gerald Imber- Assistant Clinical Professor of Plastic surgery at the Weill-Cornell Medical Center, Attending Surgeon at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and Director of a private clinic in New York City, NY; Author of “Wendell Black, MD”, “Genius on the Edge: The Bizarre Double Life of Dr. William Stewart Halsted”, and “Cardiac Cowboys: The Heroic Invention of Heart Surgery”. Want to hear more from Dr. Imber- be sure to check out his podcast series, Cardiac Cowboys, based on Dr. Imber’s book. You can listen to an introduction of the Cardiac Cowboys series here: https://shorturl.at/rKLM8 Please visit https://behindtheknife.org to access other high-yield surgical education podcasts, videos and more. If you liked this episode, check out more recent episodes: https://app.behindtheknife.org/listen

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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