Partners of the Heart

by Vivien T. Thomas

Book Overview

Visitors to the Blalock Building at the Johns Hopkins University Medical Center are greeted by portraits of two great men. One, of renowned heart surgeon Alfred Blalock, speaks for itself. The other, of highschool graduate Vivien Thomas, is testimony to the incredible genius and determination of the first black man to hold a professional position at one of America's premier medical institutions.

Thomas's dreams of attending medical school...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812216342
• ISBN13: 9780812216349
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 0.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Vivien Thomas and his work

I bought this book for my surgical students so they could see what others did to pave the way for Surgical Techs.

Excellent story

Vivien Thomas tells the story of his life with groundbreaking medical researcher Dr. Alfred Blalock in an interesting, easy-to-read style. In places, he gets a little technical for the average reader, but that doesn't detract from the story. Thomas was an amazing man. In an age when racial discrimination was the norm, Thomas set boundaries and refused to be intimidated by personalities or institutions. He maintained his dignity and professionalism without exhibiting the kind of flaming rhetoric we see from some Black advocates today. Even though he finally received recognition toward the end of his career for his pioneering research, he never received the credit he was due in medical journals and published papers. It's also sad that he was never paid what he was worth throughout his career. Thomas is the kind of man Black youths should be looking up to rather than the vapid heroes they tend to choose from sports, music and movies.

If you've seen the movie, now read the book

In this book you will hear from Vivien Thomas himself. As wonderful as the movie was, it did take some dramatic license here and there. Vivien tells the story of the first "blue baby" operation very matter of factly. As you read the book you will discover that he played things pretty close to the vest. He was not one for dramatic outbursts or fits of temper. Thomas is a dignified quite man and his relation with Dr. Blalock was not all sweetness and light but they worked well togehter and became very close. There is a lot of medical talk in the book. The squeemish may have trouble getting through the accounts of the experiments that were performed on the dogs. Don't let that stop you from reading this book. It gives you a wonderful insight into this modest, unassuming but brilliant doctor. He never went to medical school but taught some of the finset surgeons in the world how to operate. Happily, Thomas was finally given an honorary doctorate by Johns Hopkins. If you have seen the movie, don't expect this book to play out the same way. This is real life. Enjoy!

The true expression of brillance

The story of Vivian Thomas is one that every student in the health professional field should study. The simple elegance of his surgical ability combined with his ability to critically think transcend the commonplace notion of traditional medical school training.

Realistic events and true to life film

Very enjoyable film and well acted, held my attention re the subject which I had not been aware of bfore seeing this film. Also, the fact that there was no foul language used throuhgout, made the dialogue suitable for all ages.