Alfred Blalock was an American surgeon famous for his work on shock and blue baby syndrome. Blalock always believed that he was a failure from a very young age, but he never really comprehended and gauged his own aptitude and perseverance that would help in creating remarkable advances in the domain of surgery and science. On receiving his M.D. from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, he first tried to obtain surgical residency at the same institute; but failed to do so because of his average grades. Eventually, he moved to School of Medicine at Vanderbilt as Chief Residency in Surgery, concurrently working as an instructor, reaching the position of Professor of Surgery within eleven years. Having a good eye for talent, he appointed Vivien Thomas, an African-American carpenter, as his laboratory assistant. They started working on the medical condition of shock, finding cause and remedy for it, subsequently saving thousands of lives during the WWII. Later, when he moved to Johns Hopkins as the Director Department of Surgery, he took Thomas along and there they started working on blue baby syndrome with Helen Taussig, developing a surgical method to cure it. Blalock was also a great teacher and mentor. For his contribution to the medical science, he was honored with numerous awards and honorary degrees and was elected to many national and international medical societies.
Born In: Culloden, Georgia, United States
