Father of modern neurosurgery
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HARVEY CUSHING: A LIFE IN SURGERY. Michael Bliss. University of Toronto Press; 2005; 591 Pages; CDN$50.00 ISBN: 0–8020–8950-X
In the course of nature the heavens often rain down the richest gifts on human beings, but sometimes with lavish abundance bestow upon one single individual . . . such ability united beyond measure in that individual that he surpasses other men.
In the emerging field of neurological surgery in the early part of the 20th century, Vasari's comments could most appropriately be applied to Harvey Williams Cushing (1869–1939). Michael Bliss delved deeply into the life of renowned Canadian physician, William Osler, in his successful book, William Osler: A Life in Medicine, then trained his keen biographical abilities on Harvey Cushing, who was one of Osler's Baltimore “latch key kids.” The possession of one of these keys gave Cushing easy access to Osler's monumental library, next door at 1 West Franklin, and his close relationship with Osler while he was at Johns Hopkins would critically influence Cushing's life as an author and clinician.
Cushing was t
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Dr. Harvey Cushing
Harvey Cushing, a major figure in neurosurgery, was born on April 8, 1869 in Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from Yale University in 1891, studied medicine at Harvard Medical School and received his medical degree in 1895. In 1896, he moved to Johns Hopkins Hospital where he trained to become a surgeon under famed surgeon William S. Halsted. By 1899 Cushing became interested in surgery of the nervous system and began his career in neurosurgery. During his tenure at Johns Hopkins, there were countless discoveries in the field of neuroscience.
In 1913, Cushing relocated to Harvard as the surgeon-in-chief at the new Peter Bent Brigham Hospital. Cushing continued to operate on several hundred patients a year with remarkable results and in addition he was relentless in his recording of patient histories and continued his careful attention to the details and documentation of each surgery.
According to Cohen & Gadal,
“For Cushing to achieve the dream of establishing and spreading his specialty through his disciples, he needed to first prove the safety of his me CUSHING, HARVEY W. (8 Apr. 1869-7 Oct. 1939), son of Betsey M. Williams and HENRY CUSHING, was America's first neurosurgeon. He was born in Cleveland and received his medical degree from Harvard in 1895. He began as a general surgeon, only gradually becoming interested in brain and spinal cord surgery. After study in England and Germany, he became an associate professor of surgery of the central nervous system at Johns Hopkins University, where he came into contact with Sir Wm. Osler, a Canadian physician renowned for his work on malaria, cerebral palsy, and diseases of the spleen, heart, and blood. Cushing later wrote a biography of Osler, which won him a Pulitzer Prize in 1926. From 1912-32, Cushing was professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, and from 1932-37 was the Sterling Professor of Neurology at Yale. Cushing introduced a method of operating on the brain with local anesthesia. Through preoperative studies, the use of tourniquets and silver clips to control bleeding, and checks on blood pressure and oxygen levels, he reduced mortality from br
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CUSHING, HARVEY W.
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