Dr, Charles R. Drew - Essay Example

In 1922, he got the opportunity to join the Amherst College. In his time of study at Amherst, Drew received numerous athletic awards. Later after graduating from Amherst College, he took the position of director of athletics and lecturer of chemistry and biology at Morgan State College. He worked at Morgan College for a period of two years, and later joined a medical school using the savings he had made when working as a lecturer (Hoover 837). Drew had chosen Howard University as his first choice, but the University declined to offer him an admission because he did not have two hours of English credits.

However, Drew was offered an admission at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, where his credits in English were satisfactory. At McGill University, Drew was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha and acquired a master of surgery together with a doctor of medicine. Later, Drew went for an internship at the Royal Victoria Hospital and then proceeded for internal medicine at the Montreal General Hospital. After one at Montreal, Drew returned to Howard University to work as a lecturer in pathology. While working as a lecturer, he also worked as a resident surgeon at Howard University (Cornwell 612).

Achievements and Contributions At Howard, Dr. Numa Adams, a dean at the time Drew was working as a lecturer was developing a clinical faculty of high standards with the main aim of providing accredited graduate residency programs to physicians of black origin. Dr. Adams took interest in Drew and organized for a two year Rockefeller fellowship for Drew. This saw Drew moving to Columbia University, where he was put under the supervision of Dr. Allen Oldfather Whipple. At Columbia University, Drew was assigned the laboratory of Dr.

John Scudder and practiced there from 1938-1940. Drew and Dr. Scudder worked together and went on to perfect in the science of extracting plasma from blood. Their perfection in the science of blood transfusion was a major contribution in saving peoples’ lives during the World War II. The contribution of Drew’s work of blood transfusion during the World War II remains one of the things drew is remembered for throughout the world (Gordon 223). Other contributions of Drew in surgical science included a better understanding of causes of shock and accurate measurement and replacement of fluids, blood, and electrolytes.

In his first year of his fellowship, the Columbia University issued a vacancy in the surgical residency program, and Drew was lucky to get the appointment. While, at the surgical resident at Columbia, Drew got permission to attend an annual meeting of the John Andrew clinical society in Tuskegee. The organizer of the annual meeting was John Andrew Memorial Hospital. On his way to the annual meeting, Drew was involved in a road accident near Burlington, NC (Gordon 223). In June 1940, Drew was awarded a doctor of science in medicine by the Columbia University for his thesis titled “Banked Blood: A study in Blood Preservation”.

In the same year, Drew went back to Howard to work as an assistant professor of surgery. In 1939, Drew married Minnie Lenore Robbins and was blessed with Bebe, Charlene, Rhea and Charles. In 1941, Drew got a certification from the American Board of surgery and also received the coveted Spingarn Medal from the NAACP. The medal came as a result of