Debakey michael biography oliver list

Debakey heart

Michael E. DeBakey, M. Valedictorian of his high school class, he pursued a college education at Tulane University. At Tulane, he earned enough credits by the end of his second year to enter medical school. He combined his final undergraduate courses with medical studies. As a result, he received his B. During his final year in medical school, he created the roller pump.

Two decades later, it became a crucial component of the heart-lung machine that paved the way for open-heart surgery. Returning to the United States in , he joined Tulane's faculty. At the beginning of World War II, he volunteered to serve in the armed forces. During this time, he published a number of papers about treating chest wounds and vascular injuries in injured military personnel.

His work led to the development of mobile army surgical hospitals or MASH units. In addition, he helped establish the system of treating military personnel returning from the war, a concept that evolved into the Veterans Affairs Medical Center System, now the Department of Veterans Affairs. For his service, he received the U. Army Legion of Merit Award.