Medical Pioneers of Minnesota

Medical Pioneers of Minnesota. . Minnesota's doctors and the institutions they built have played a distinguished role in the medical revolution of the past 150 years. Both the Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota Medical School have pioneered treatment techniques that have brought patients and students from around the world to their doors., Dr. William W. Mayo and his two sons, William J. (Dr. Will) and Charles H. (Dr. Charlie) Mayo, working at St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester, achieved notable success in the new field of surgery during the 1890s. As the sons' skills grew, their practice expanded, until by 1904 the two doctors were operating on over 3,000 patients each year. New laboratories, improved medical record keeping, advanced training for physicians in many specialties, and quality medical diagnosis and care in well-equipped modern hospitals followed, bringing the Mayo Clinic a worldwide and still growing reputation. , Benefiting from cooperation and competition with the Clinic, the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis earned its own national reputation. Dr. Charles N. Hewitt, of Red Wing, who led early efforts to conquer typhoid, smallpox, and other deadly infectious diseases by means of vaccination and sanitation regulations, was a regular public health lecturer at the University. In the 1930s Dr Owen H. Wangensteen revolutionized abdominal surgery with the invention of gastric suction procedures. The medical school also pioneered in open heart surgery, introducing the heart pacemaker and artificial heart valves. In recent years it has played a major role in organ transplantation. These and other contributions have given rise to a concentration of fine hospitals and clinics and a sophisticated electronics industry producing pacemakers, valves, and other devices to heal the sick and prolong life.