CUSHING,HARVEY AND BECK,CLAUDE - A SURGICAL LEGACY

HARVEY GUSHING'S CONTRIBUTION to neurosurgery and other surgical speci alties has been profound. The accomplishments of his many pupils have further immortalized Gushing's role as a pioneering advocate of surgic al science. Claude S. Beck, the first professor of cardiovascular surg ery in the United States, was one such student. Beck's career and succ esses are illustrative of Gushing's guidance and enduring support for his surgical heirs. Beck's first encounter with Gushing evoked a spiri t of fraternity and fashioned a respect and loyalty to Gushing that la sted for the duration of Beck's career. Gushing's personality and the methods by which he perpetuated a rich surgical tradition are illumina ted by details of Beck's stay at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital as a Cabot Fellow in Gushing's laboratory, by diary accounts of his later 6 -week visit in 1927, and by the numerous telling correspondences betwe en the two men. This article traces Beck's association with Gushing an d provides unique insights into Gushing, his Cleveland connections, an d his neurosurgical service at the Brigham.