Norman E. Shumway, MD, PhD

Norman E. Shumway was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1923. He was a champion debate team member in high school and was headed towards law at the University of Michigan, when World War II changed his plans. An Army aptitude test suggested he would be best suited for medicine, and he was sent to Baylor for premed studies and then to Vanderbilt for his M.D. degree. He then wanted to pursue surgery and chose the University of Minnesota because of the reputation of the Department, then headed by Professor Owen Wangensteen. The University of Minnesota’s Department of Surgery was to play a crucial role in Dr. Shumway’s career, introducing him to the excitement of the rapidly developing new field of cardiac surgery and providing an example of the importance of innovative research related to surgery, through the fertile and exciting atmosphere fostered by Dr. Wangensteen. Shumway would later establish his Department at Stanford, incorporating many of the things that he had experienced at Minnesota.

These principles included working in an environment “friendly to learning”, where new procedures and new knowledge were regularly expected from every faculty member and every trainee. From the late 1950’s onwards, Dr. Shumway’s Department was an incredibly exciting place to be. Most of these advances were related to heart or lung transplantation, but congenital heart disease, thoracic aortic disease, tissue valves, and protection of the heart with topical hypothermia were also emphasized.  Similar to the Minnesota program, with respect to residency training, there was an “a la carte” approach. Residents underwent widely varying pathways through training, depending on their interests and individual circumstances. For some residents, this meant a medical internship and proceeding directly into cardiac surgery, and then in some cases, backtracking to complete general surgery. For others, it was a back-and-forth approach, depending upon what rotation experiences were available at the time. Furthermore, he liked to give each resident as much responsibility he or she was capable of taking, and would rapidly advance a particularly gifted resident through the program, before considering him qualified for a faculty appointment. His concept of education then was not based on years of residency, but rather competency, a concept currently recognized as the optimal method of training.

Perhaps his most significant legacy is his personal surgical philosophy: “The most difficult thing about surgery – even open heart surgery – is getting a chance to do it. Certainly it doesn’t matter as much who does the operation, as how it is done.” His trainees have carried forth these principles to their own training programs, influencing another generation of surgeons. He thought of himself, and indeed was,  the “world’s best first assistant”. He was able to simplify the operation to its basic components, creating the most elegant and uncluttered operative field imaginable, and was remarkably calm and supportive for the then chief resident. He was able to get the very most out of the abilities of his residents.

Dr Shumway’s humor and quick wit are legendary, and when appropriate, could relax and entertain the entire operative team. His aphorisms are often quoted, including, “all that you need to know to perform open heart surgery is water runs downhill and seeks its own level”; “air rises”; and “all bleeding stops sometime”. He believed that every resident coming through the training program added something to the “Stanford method”, which came to be known as “doing things according to the Norm”.

Another important feature that Dr. Shumway attributed to Dr. Wangensteen was his belief that surgical research included studying surgical procedures in a laboratory setting, before applying them to patients in the hospital. This was “translational research” in its purest form, before the term was known. The heart transplant advances of the Stanford team were firmly rooted in the experimental laboratory, and in addition, provided valuable surgical experience to a generation of trainees.

Dr. Shumway was totally supportive of his younger colleagues. He had sincere pride in their accomplishments, often saying he would only hire surgeons better than himself. Of course, this was rarely the case, but he tirelessly promoted his trainees and provided invaluable opportunities for them. Year after year, the latest academic surgeon finishing the chief year would be sent out to a new university, frequently with a recently trained perfusionist, to start a new “Stanford-like program”, often with spectacularly good results.

Dr. Shumway had a unique ability to relate to patients and colleagues in a warm, personal, and reassuring way. The response this engendered was apparent at a dinner in his honor in 1993, on the occasion of his 70th birthday. More than 600 persons, including former trainees, colleagues, and patients alike, celebrated him in a truly amazing outpouring of affection.

Dr. Shumway was President of the Samson Thoracic Surgical Society (later the Western) in 1978-79, and the American Association for Thoracic Surgery in 1986-87. He was also given the lifetime title of “Honorary President” of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation. There were numerous other honors and awards which are chronicled in the Stanford press release at the time of his death,  http://mednews.stanford.edu/shumway/main.html.

Dr. Shumway had a lifelong love of golf, learned from caddying for his father during childhood, and which he enjoyed throughout his life. Among all of the societies that he belonged to, he may have enjoyed the activities of the informal “Senior Cardiothoracic Surgeons’ Golf Association”, which included friends John Ochsner, Denton Cooley, and others. His camaraderie on the golf course was probably similar in many ways to the environment he established among the members of his Department at Stanford.

Dr. Shumway loved cardiac surgery and the Department he established at Stanford. He provided a superb setting to train the best possible surgeons. His commitment to his patients, to always “keep operating”, led him to make innumerable contributions to our field. His work in establishing the team devoted to heart, and later lung transplantation, was an example of doing everything he possibly could to help the most ill patients. He was able to inspire many and to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. He brought many others along with him on an incredible journey. When he died February 10th, one day after his 83rd birthday, a true pioneer passed from us. We will truly miss him, but his legacy will never be forgotten and will continue to grow as future generations of Cardiac Surgeons are trained.

Bruce A. Reitz, MD
William A. Baumgartner, MD