Tales from the Wild West of Cardiac Surgery | Gerald Imber, MD

The history of cardiac surgery is filled with tales of intrepid surgeons with larger-than-life personalities who pushed the limits of the human body and the bounds of what were then considered acceptable medical practices. The result? Heart transplants, pacemakers, artificial heart valves, heart-lung machines, and other once-unthinkable and experimental procedures that have now saved millions of lives. 

Our guest in this episode, Gerald Imber, MD, charts these remarkable developments in his 2024 book Cardiac Cowboys: The Heroic Invention of Heart Surgery. While not writing books on the history of medicine, Dr. Imber is a practicing plastic surgeon who specializes in cosmetic surgery. Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Imber talks about the challenging yet rewarding training he underwent as a surgery resident, what it means to have an “eye for aesthetics,” why he decided to write a book on the history of heart surgery, stories of daring surgeons from this history, how he reconciles the drive to push the frontiers of medicine with a regard for patient safety, and more.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

2:15 - What drew Dr. Imber to a career in surgery 

7:55 - Dr. Imber’s grueling experiences as a general surgery resident

11:52 - Dr. Imber’s transition into plastic surgery and the aesthetic sensibilities necessary for this speciality 

22:46 - What Dr. Imber’s current plastic surgery practice looks like 

24:28 - How Dr. Imber finds fulfillment and meaning in his work 

25:21 - What motivated Dr. Imber to write Cardiac Cowboys, a book about the history of open heart surgery 

30:47 - Balancing risks to patient lives with medical and surgical experimentation

34:25 - A brief history of open heart surgery

40:02 - Key milestones in the development of open heart surgery 

45:24 - What Dr. Imber hopes readers take away from Cardiac Cowboys 

Dr. Gerald Imber is the author of Cardiac Cowboys: The Heroic Invention of Heart Surgery (2024) and Genius on the Edge: The Bizarre Double Life of Dr. William Stewart Halsted (2010).

Dr. Imber can be found on Instagram at @geraldimbermd.

Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.

Copyright The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2024