Doctor
The Resume
(September 7, 1908-July 11, 2008)
Born in Lake Charles, Louisiana
Birth name was Michel Debaghi
Pioneer of open-heart surgery, bypass surgery and angioplasty
Invented the pump for the heart-lung machine
Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1969), National Medal of Science (1987) and Congressional Gold Medal (2008)
Why he might be annoying
He had a decades-long feud with fellow heart surgery pioneer Denton Cooley.
He was know for directing withering remarks ('I am surrounded by incompetents') to surgical residents.
He fired aides over trivial mistakes.
He was a name-dropper who chatted about the ailments of his famous patients.
He wore white cowboy boots into surgery.
Although he pioneered the surgical treatment for aortic dissection, when he suffered the condition himself (2005), he resisted undergoing surgery.
Why he might not be annoying
He said of his reputation, 'If you were on the operating table, would you want a perfectionist, or someone who cared little for details?'
He published one of the first studies linking smoking and lung cancer (1939).
Working for the Surgeon General during World War II, he helped develop the concept of Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) units.
He supervised a quintuple-byass on Boris Yeltsin (1996), who called him 'a magician of the heart.'
He performed surgery into his 90s.
He performed an estimated 60,000 operations over his lifetime.
The Journal of the American Medical Association noted, 'Many consider Michael E. DeBakey to be the greatest surgeon ever.' (2005)
Credit: C. Fishel
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Year In Review:
For 2019, as of last week, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 11 Votes: 36.36% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 17 Votes: 47.06% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 26 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 21 Votes: 47.62% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 52 Votes: 32.69% Annoying
In 2011, Out of 74 Votes: 47.30% Annoying
In 2010, Out of 78 Votes: 44.87% Annoying
In 2009, Out of 66 Votes: 37.88% Annoying
In 2008, Out of 371 Votes: 32.08% Annoying
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