Organ transplant is one of the most unique procedures in medicine. The ability to give a dying patient a new heart or liver or kidney is one of the great achievements of modern medicine. It has become possible because of the genius and skills of unique individuals. A handful stand out. Christiaan Barnard, Thomas Starzl, Michael DeBakey, Norman Shumway, Joel Cooper, Clarence Lillehei, and Denton Cooley

Michael DeBakey has been called the greatest surgeon of the 20th century. The son of Lebanese immigrants, Michael DeBakey rose from humble beginnings in a backwater Louisiana town to dominate the landscape of modern medicine. His contributions to our understanding and treatment of cardiovascular disease, were innumerable.  A Time for All Things: The Life of
Michael E. DeBakey is the first to tell the remarkable story of a driven genius who led a scientific and therapeutic revolution in all its dramatic depth.

The biography of the life of Michael DeBakey, A Time for All Things by Craig Miller is well worth reading. It does demonstrate the role of the hospital’s critical technology development that has changed global medicine. Take note that Greenfield, DeBakey and Starzl all worked in VA’s. For many foreign medical graduates who come to North America for training in medicine they are admitted on a J1 visa. The J1 visa requires the holder to return to their native country for two years before they can apply for citizenship. The VA system is considered underserved and is eligible for a J1 visa two-year rule waiver. It represents a way for foreign medical graduates to become permanent US citizens.