The fascinating true story of Brigham and Women's Hospital
Founded in 1913, the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital was the first medical institution since John Hopkins to foster clinical clerkships of medical students in the environment of a modern residency program. Forging a partnership with Harvard Medical School, the Brigham would become a major innovator in clinical research, implementing a new educational model that would inspire other hospitals for generations to come. In 1980 the Brigham merged with two other Boston medical institutions boasting their own profoundly important histories, the Boston Hospital for Women and the Robert Breck Brigham Hospital, to become Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH). This rich and insightful account brings this remarkable story to life: the milestone achievements, medical breakthroughs, and personal dedication that have made BWH a world-class leader in academic medicine.
The Teaching Hospital includes:
- A comprehensive history of BWH, from its continued commitment to medicine, education, and compassionate care to its ongoing leadership in transforming science-driven healthcare today.
- A compendium of BWH's famous firsts, including the nation's first maternity ward, the first in-vitro fertilization, the first successful human organ transplant, New England's first coronary care unit, and most recently, the first full-face transplant, as well as cutting-edge research in stem cells, systems biology, and bioengineering.
- A celebration of Brigham's luminaries and landmarks, from pioneers like Dr. Harvey Cushing, the father of modern neurosurgery, Dr. Bernard Lown, Nobel Peace Prize winning cardiologist, and Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners in Health, to the hospital's milestone breakthroughs in radiology, arthritis, transplant surgery, immunology, women's health, community health, and more.
With invaluable contributions from medical historians and doctors, this essential volume provides an in-depth history of the institution. Here is the evolution of BWH in all its dimensions: its reputation as an education and clinical innovator, its role in fostering groundbreaking biomedical research, its ties to the local community as well as to the nation and the world, its financial and administrative growth across the decades, the personalities who have made BWH famous, and the fascinating inner life of the hospital. Filled with stories of profound commitment, critical analysis, and behind-the-scenes details, the book celebrates the Brigham's history in both a medical and cultural context.
