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Alfred Blalock Facts & Worksheets

Alfred Blalock was a famous American surgeon for his research concerning shock and the development of the surgical procedure called the "Blalock-Taussig Shunt" in the 20th century.

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Alfred Blalock was a famous American surgeon for his research concerning shock and the development of the surgical procedure called the “Blalock-Taussig Shunt” in the 20th century. He was the key to the beginning of modern procedures for cardiac surgery.

See the fact file below for more information on the Alfred Blalock or alternatively, you can download our 24-page Alfred Blalock worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

BIOGRAPHY AND EDUCATION

  • Alfred Blalock was born in Culloden, Georgia, the United States, on April 5, 1899. Blalock was the eldest of the five children of George Blalock, an owner of a cotton plantation and a merchant, and Martha Davis Blalock.
  • Blalock had a love for sports and great outdoor activities at a very young age, which he kept throughout his career and life. He was also a very hard-working student and entered the Georgia Military Academy of Milledgeville at fourteen.
  • The academy was a preparatory school for the University of Georgia. Blalock attended the University of Georgia in Athens in 1915 as a sophomore, skipping his freshman year. Blalock was also a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity, the Delta Chapter at the university.
  • In 1918, Blalock graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree at 19 years old. He was able to attend Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore for his medical degree. During this time, Blalock enrolled in a surgical course and realized that he was really for this career.
  • In 1922, Blalock had an outstanding performance in surgery and wanted to get a surgical residency. However, due to Blalock’s average overall grades, he had to be contented with a urology internship.
  • In 1923, Blalock earned an Assistant Residency on the General Surgical Service, and an externship followed it in otolaryngology in 1924.
  • Blalock had moved to Boston to continue his surgical training at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in 1925. A few days later, Blalock accepted a resident surgeon’s position in the newly built Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville.
  • In the university, Blalock was able to work with his good friend Dr. Tinsley Harrison who was also his roommate in Baltimore back at medical school.

BLALOCK AT VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY

  • Blalock worked with Barney Brooks, a Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Surgical Service at Vanderbilt University.
  • However, in 1927, Blalock suffered from tuberculosis and spent time recovering for almost two years in a sanatorium near Saranac Lake. Later on, Blalock made a small tour in Europe and worked in the Department of Physiology in Cambridge, England. Later in the same year, he was able to return to Vanderbilt.
  • While Blalock was in Vanderbilt, he had an active time teaching 3rd year and 4th-year medical students, and later on, he became in charge of the surgical laboratory.
  • Blalock encountered Vivien Thomas, who was Vanderbilt’s school janitor. He hired Thomas to assist him in the laboratory in 1930, which proved to be a very fruitful partnership.
  • Blalock observed how meticulous and talented Thomas was and made Thomas his very own surgical technician. With Blalock’s guidance, Thomas eventually learned surgical procedures and equipment that led Thomas to design his surgical instruments.
  • With Blalock’s laboratory experiments, he had established that surgical shock resulted from the loss of blood and/ or body fluids. Blalock proposed a treatment using plasma and blood transfusions.
  • In the Second World War, this treatment was used to take care of men who were wounded. This discovery of Blalock’s saved thousands of lives during the war.
  • Later on, Blalock and Thomas began their experiments in vascular and cardiac surgery using several innovative techniques. In 1938, Blalock became a full professor at Vanderbilt.

BLALOCK AT JOHN HOPKINS

  • Three years later, Blalock became a Professor of Surgery at the Johns Hopkins University and Surgeon in Chief of the John Hopkins Hospital. Blalock spent the rest of his career staying at John Hopkins.
  • A position was also offered for Vivien Thomas because they considered themselves as a ‘package deal’ as both professional colleagues and as good friends.
  • Blalock became very interested in cardiac surgery. He was able to operate on dogs to perfect an operation where the subclavian artery had to be anastomosed to the pulmonary artery.
  • The procedure was a means of bypassing a narrowing or coarctation of the aorta (the main artery). The shunt technique was Blalock’s new surgery technique that was performed with the collaboration of Helen Taussig, a pediatric cardiologist.
  • Taussig has recognized Blalock’s technique that could be used for infants with Tetralogy of Fallot or most commonly known as “Baby Blue Syndrome.” Taussig helped Blalock translate their medical work into an actual procedure that can be applied to young children.
  • Tetralogy of Fallot (Baby Blue Syndrome) is a congenital heart condition where infants tend to have blue skin. It was due to the lack of oxygenated blood caused by a congenital heart condition.
  • On November 29, 1944, the very first Blalock-Taussig surgical operation was performed. It was done on a 15-month old baby named Eileen. The procedure was to put an artery leaving the heart and attach it to an artery connected to the lungs. It gives the blood the added oxygenation it needed.
  • While excelling in the actual surgical field, Blalock also excelled in teaching and trained 38 chief residents at Johns Hopkins.

BLALOCK’S PERSONAL LIFE AND LATE CAREER

  • Blalock was first married to Mary Chambers O’Bryan and had three children. In 1958, his wife died, and Blalock then married Alice Walters in 1959.
  • Blalock was awarded the René Leriche Prize of the International Society of Surgery as the world’s outstanding surgeon in vascular (heart) surgery in 1949.
  • In 1955, a building at Hopkins Hospital was named after him. It was called Alfred Blalock Clinical Sciences Building. In July 1964, Blalock retired from being a surgeon and died two months later because of cancer at 65 years old on September 15, 1964.

Alfred Blalock Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Alfred Blalock across 24 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Alfred Blalock worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Alfred Blalock who was a famous American surgeon for his research concerning shock and the development of the surgical procedure called the “Blalock-Taussig Shunt” in the 20th century. He was the key to the beginning of modern procedures for cardiac surgery.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Alfred Blalock Facts
  • Blalock’s Profile
  • Timeline of the Surgeon
  • Jumbled Scalpel
  • Filling the Shunt
  • The Package Deal
  • Baby Blue Syndrome
  • Questions of Blalock
  • Something the Lord Made
  • Blalock’s Analysis
  • Surgeon’s Advice

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Link will appear as Alfred Blalock Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, January 4, 2021

Use With Any Curriculum

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