By Latagia Copeland B.S., A.S.

AFRICAN AMERICAN MEDICAL PIONEERS

DR. JAMES MCCUNE SMITHFirst African-American to Earn a Medical Degree

Dr. James McCune Smith was the first African-American to earn a medical degree and practice medicine in the United States. He was also the first to own and operate a pharmacy, in New York City. At the age of 25, just returned from medical school in Scotland, Smith rose at the annual meeting of the American Anti-Slavery Society and spoke out against slavery, telling the crowd of abolitionist support in Europe.

DR. REBECCA LEE CRUMPLERFIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN TO EARN A MEDICAL DEGREE

Dr. Crumpler was the first African American woman to earn a medical degree. She devoted her life to improving health in the black community through research and clinic work. When the Civil War ended, she realized that whole communities of newly-freed blacks in the South would urgently need medical care. So she left her Boston home and medical practice and moved to Richmond.

MARY ELIZA MAHONEY, RNFIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN NURSE

Mary Eliza Mahoney was the first Black professional nurse in America. Known for her calm and quiet skill, she, nonetheless, mounted the stage at a 1909 nursing conference in Boston to call for direct action to correct the stark inequalities faced by African-American nurses.

DR. DANIEL HALE WILLIAMSFIRST SUCCESSFUL HEART SURGERY

Dr. Daniel Hale Williams founded Provident Hospital in Chicago, the first black-owned hospital in America. He is also credited with the world’s first successful heart surgery, conducted in Chicago in 1893. On a summer night, a young man arrived at Provident with a stab wound to the heart. When the patient went into shock, Williams decided to operate.

DR. REGINA BENJAMINFIRST BLACK WOMAN TO BE ELECTED TO THE MEDICAL ASSOCIATION OF THE STATE OF ALABAMA

After Dr. Regina Benjamin received her medical degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, she returned to her Gulf Coast hometown, Bayou la Batre, and opened a small rural health clinic; for 13 years, she was the town’s only doctor. In 1995, at the age of 39, Benjamin became the first Black woman, and the first person under the age of 40, to be elected to the American Medical Association Board of Trustees, and in 2002, she became the first Black female president of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama.

DR. WILLIAM AUGUSTUS HINTONINTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED RESEARCHER AND THE FIRST BLACK DOCTOR TO TEACH AT HARVARD

Dr. William Augustus Hinton, the son of former slaves, became the first black professor at Harvard Medical School and gained an international reputation for his medical research. As a young man, he boldly declined the offer of a Harvard medical scholarship reserved for African-American students in order to compete for a scholarship open to students of all races.

DR. ALEXA CANADYFIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE NEUROSURGEON

In 1976, at age 26, Dr. Alexa Canady became the first Black female neurosurgeon in the United States when she was accepted as a resident at the University of Minnesota. In 1986, after four years at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Canady became chief of the hospital’s neurosurgery department. In 1993, she received the American Women’s Medical Association President’s Award. Canady’s research in neurosurgical techniques resulted in the invention of a programmable antisiphon shunt, which is used to treat excess fluid in the brain. She shares a U.S. patent for the device with two other neurosurgeons.

DR. JANE COOKE WRIGHTFIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE PRESIDENTOF NEW YORK CANCER SOCIETYDr. Jane Cooke Wright’s father set the bar pretty high by being one of the first Blacks to graduate from Harvard Medical School, the first Black doctor on staff at a New York City municipal hospital and New York’s first Black police surgeon. However, Jane Cook Wright successfully emulated his example. In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson appointed her to the President’s Commission on Heart Disease, Cancer, and Stroke. In 1967, at the age of 48, Wright became professor of surgery, head of the cancer chemotherapy department, and associate dean at New York Medical College. These accomplishments made her the highest-ranking Black woman at a nationally recognized medical institution. In 1971, Wright also became the first female president of the New York Cancer Society.

DR. M. JOYCELYN ELDERSFIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN APPOINTED SURGEON GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES

In 1961, 28-year-old Dr. M. Joycelyn Elders became the chief resident at the University of Arkansas, leading a charge of white, male residents and interns. She was the first person in the state of Arkansas to be board certified in pediatric endocrinology. In 1987, Gov. Bill Clinton appointed Elders head of the Arkansas Department of Health, and in 1993, President Bill Clinton appointed her the 16th surgeon general of the United States. She was the first Black person and the second female to hold this position.

DR. BEN CARSONREVOLUTIONIZED NEUROSURGERY

Dr. Ben Carson is one of the most famous and respected doctors in the world. Since the 1980s, his surgeries to separate conjoined twins have made international headlines, and his pioneering techniques have revolutionized the field of neurosurgery. Carson also has become a role model for people of all ages, especially children. He went from the inner-city streets of Detroit to the halls of Yale University, to director of pediatric neurosurgery at one of the most prestigious hospitals in the United States. In 2004, Carson was awarded the Healthcare Humanitarian Award.

DR. CHARLES DREWPLASMA RESEARCHER

Dr. Drew, physician, researcher, and surgeon, forged a new understanding of blood plasma that allowed blood to be stored for transfusions. As World War II began, Drew received a staggering telegram request: "Secure 5,000 ampules of dried plasma for transfusion." That was more than the total world supply. Drew met that challenge and found himself at the head of the Red Cross blood bank -- and up against a narrow-minded policy of segregating blood supplies based on a donor's race.

DR. CHARLES DEWITT WATTS

Dr. Watts spent more than 50 years advocating for civil and human rights and for the quality of medical care for all residents of Durham, especially the poor and underserved. He broke racial barriers when he pushed for certification of black medical students.

DOROTHY BOULDING FEREBEE, M.D.Dorothy Boulding Ferebee, M.D., was born Norfolk, Virginia. She graduated from Tufts Medical College at the age of 37 and as with many young health care professionals of African descent born during that tense racial era, this consistent honor roll student was denied professional access into predominantly white hospitals. Determined, she moved to Washington DC for an internship at Freedmen’s Hospital (now Howard University Hospital). Dr. Ferebee was actively involved in countless organizations until her death at the age of 90.

SAMUEL L. KOUNTZ, M.D.

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as an African American kidney transplantation surgeon from Lexa, Arkansas. He was most distinguished for his pioneering work in the field of kidney transplantations, and in research, discoveries, and inventions in Renal Science. In 1961, while working with Dr. Roy Cohn at the Stanford University Medical Center, he performed the first successful Kidney transplant between humans who were not identical twins. Six years later, he and a team of researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, developed the prototype for the Belzer kidney perfusion machine, a device that can preserve kidneys for up to 50 hours from the time they are taken from a donor's body. It is now standard equipment in hospitals and research laboratories around the world.

IN CONCLUSION

I salute each and every one of these extraordinary healthcare professionals. These great individuals have opened the door for other African Americans to walk

through. Moreover, they have saved countless lives in the process. Their work and accomplishments often go

unnoticed but it is no less astonishing.

REFERENCES http://blerds.atlantablackstar.com/2014/09/24/11-african-american-medical-pioneers-will-make-proud/3/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/partners/early/e_pioneers_txt.html

http://www.blackdoctorscolumbusohio.com/black_medical_history.htm