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Merel Harmel: Portrait of an Anesthesiology Pioneer
1From the *Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina; and †Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
Merel Harmel, MD, was the first anesthesiologist to give anesthesia for a palliative congenital heart operation performed by Alfred Blalock, MD. He was the first resident in anesthesiology at Johns Hopkins and was the first academic department chairman at 3 different universities during his long career. He was successful because of his steadfast belief that academic anesthesia could and must flourish and his incessant optimism no matter how daunting the many obstacles in his professional life.
Merel Harmel, MD, was the first anesthesiologist to give anesthesia for a palliative congenital heart operation performed by Alfred Blalock, MD. He was the first resident in anesthesiology at Johns Hopkins and was the first academic department chairman at 3 different universities during his long career. He was successful because of his steadfast belief that academic anesthesia could and must flourish and his incessant optimism no matter how daunting the many obstacles in his professional life.
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