Vilray P. Blair, his surgical descendants, and their roles in plastic surgical development

Perhaps one of the most historically well-known plastic surgeons is Vilra P . Blair. As commander of the U.S. Army corps of head and neck surgeons duri ng World War I, he became well known for his work in posttraumatic reconstr uction. Blair's efforts in the early part of this century helped to develop plastic surgery as a distinct surgical subspecialty in the United States. His prowess as a surgeon allowed him to build orle of the largest plastic s urgery centers in the country and to train many of the top young American s urgeons. Blair excelled as a teacher. He produced academic surgeons such as Tames Ba rrett Brown and Bradford Cannon, who took the lead in the care of wartime i njuries during World War II. At Valley Forge General Hospital, Blair's trai nees dedicated themselves to the reconstruction of injured patients and tra ined other young plastic surgeons in the care of postwar trauma. This excep tional level of patient care resulted in the U.S. government recognizing pl astic surgery as a subspecialty following World War II. Since that time. Bl air's surgical descendants at Washington University have led the country in the development of new training concepts and ideals and have gone on to be come leaders in plastic surgery worldwide.