Today, I’m thinking of Vivien Thomas, a man who was paid & classified as a janitor at Johns Hopkins despite running a lab, doing the work of a post-doc and developing pioneering heart surgery that saved infants. 
Despite developing the surgery that saved lives & coaching the surgeon through the process, he wasn’t credited in academic journals for his role. He often had to take bartending jobs that the surgeon he trained hosted to make ends meet.
While Blalock, the surgeon Thomas assisted & trained often advocated for him, he only went so far. Blalock, despite benefiting immensely from Thomas’ skills, never advocated for pay or academic appointments worthy of his contribution.
He eventually received an honorary doctorate (in law, not medicine) & was appointed to surgery instruction…40 years after beginning his pioneering work.
Dr. Vivien Thomas created techniques that saved many lives & trained many leading cardiac surgeons.
Dr. Vivien Thomas created techniques that saved many lives & trained many leading cardiac surgeons.
Despite his creation of the surgery that redirects blood flow in kids with congenital heart defects, the surgery is still named after the white doctors that tasked him with its creation.
For #blackhistorymonth2023, I hope Dr Thomas is remembered.
For #blackhistorymonth2023, I hope Dr Thomas is remembered.
I also hope that @JohnsHopkins paid his family what he should have earned, with interest and that the BT shunt gets renamed to the Thomas shunt.
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