博士的遗产. 丹尼尔·黑尔·威廉姆斯, a heart surgery pioneer

1893年7月, 詹姆斯·康沃尔被芝加哥普罗维登斯医院收治胸部有刀伤, stemming from a barroom brawl. 他需要手术, 但当时的医学专业人士认为，心脏手术太危险了.

这种情况即将改变. 在没有抗生素、足够的麻醉或现代心脏手术中使用的许多工具的情况下. 丹尼尔·黑尔·威廉姆斯 cut a small hole into Cornish's chest using a scalpel. He then repaired a severed artery and a tear in the sac surrounding the heart. Cornish lived another 20 years, 威廉姆斯成为世界上第一批成功进行开心手术的医生之一.

The achievement wasn't 威廉姆斯' only pioneering move. 就在两年前, he founded Provident Hospital and Training School for Nurses, the nation's first Black-owned and operated hospital in America, treating both Black and white patients. 它给了黑人医生和护士一个行医的机会，而当时大多数医疗和培训机构因为他们的种族而排斥他们.

他也是第一位被任命为伊利诺伊州健康委员会成员的黑人，也是国家医学协会的创始成员, the nation's oldest and largest organization representing Black physicians. 当时，黑人被白人医院拒之门外，或被降至全黑人病房，护理标准低于标准, 《信誉真人赌博下注》将消除健康差距和确保所有人都能获得专业医疗保健作为优先事项.

“很明显，他激励了许多内科医生，是一位开拓者。. 艾弗便雅悯, 威斯康辛医学院心血管中心主任，美国心脏协会前主席. "We are really standing on the shoulders of giants. 他不仅是他自己人民的伟人，也是整个医学界的伟人."

在19世纪，美国的黑人甚至能获得医学学位都是一种成就.

Dr. James McCune, who in 1837 became the first Black man in the U.S. 获得医学学位, 他在苏格兰接受医学教育，因为美国医学院不招收黑人. 十年过去了. David Jones Peck became the first Black man 获得医学学位 from a U.S. institution, graduating from Rush Medical College in Chicago. 1868年，霍华德大学创建了自己的医学院来培养黑人医生, but their opportunities to practice medicine remained rare.

威廉姆斯, a former shoemaker's apprentice and barber, earned his medical degree in 1883 from Chicago Medical School, affiliated with Northwestern University. He was one of just three practicing Black doctors in Chicago at the time.

"I think that ultimately, Dr. 威廉姆斯的成功和他的认可不是来自他的种族，而是他的成就. 克劳迪娅,费根, chief medical officer for the Cook County Health system, which includes Provident Hospital. Though it closed for a time in the 1980s, Provident仍然服务于威廉姆斯在19世纪末创立时所设立的相同的使命, 她说.

“他留下的部分遗产是，他希望有一个安全的地方，人们可以得到高质量的护理，人们可以接受培训来提供这种护理,”费根说. "Provident Hospital was opened to treat people of all races. 它照顾那些无处可去的人，这是库克县使命的一部分. We are committed to that mission, 提供最高质量的医疗而不用做钱包活检来看看你能负担得起多少."

威廉姆斯' legacy as a mentor and trainer of physicians had a ripple effect, 为有抱负的黑人医务人员创造更多的机会，帮助提高护理质量，降低黑人病人的死亡率.

他培训的人后来在全国各地的医院中发挥了关键作用,”费根说.

威廉姆斯在华盛顿的弗里德曼医院担任外科主任期间指导医生, D.C., where he established a model internship program for graduate physicians. In 1900, 他成为美国为数不多的黑人医学院之一的外科客座教授, Meharry Medical College in Nashville, 田纳西州. 他经常谈到，黑人医生需要成为社区的领导者，需要开办能为黑人提供更好医疗服务的医院.

本杰明说，威廉姆斯树立的榜样很像他自己的叔祖父, 他是圭亚那人，在苏格兰获得医学学位，并在西非进行了第一次输血. He served as an inspiration to Benjamin and others in his family, many of whom have entered the medical profession.

“在我自己的生活中，我并不缺少先驱，”本杰明说，他来到美国.S. 在圭亚那高中毕业后，他接受了其他医学领军人物的指导，这些人也面临着移民传统的挑战. "I understand the value and importance of having these key individuals who, 尽管困难重重, were able to be not just successful but first – and oftentimes best – in class."

But as inspiring as people like 威廉姆斯 have been, the number of Black men and women in medicine remains disproportionately small, Benjamin said – something he hopes will change in the years ahead.

"When I matriculated at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1978, the number of African American males applying was 1,400,”他说. “快进, by the time I became president of AHA, 这个数字并没有上升, even though more African American men were graduating from college. 我们需要能够推广这些英雄”，这样更多的黑人男性和女性就可以把自己看作是医学院或更高层次的学生.

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