Interview with John S. Najarian

Abstract

Dr. John Najarian begins part one of his interview with a reflection on where he was born and raised and how he became interested in medicine. He then discusses his time in the U.S. Air Force, his interest in transplantation, the research he conducted under the mentorship of Frank Dixon and Joe Feldman, his decision to return to surgical work, his time at UCSF, and his move to the University of Minnesota. Dr. Najarian then reviews his time at the University of Minnesota, covering all of the following topics: his efforts to increase the number of surgical patients and work with surgeons in the community; relations with administrators at University Hospital; the continued training of academic surgeons; relations between different departments within the Medical School; cultural differences across the United States; the organ transplantation program at the University; ethical issues in transplantation; Robert Good’s work on bone marrow transplantation; transsexual surgery at the University; the faculty practice plan and income in the Medical School; the impact of Medicare and Medicaid; the health manpower shortage and problems with manpower distribution; and efforts to recruit minority and female surgeons. Dr. Najarian begins part two of his interview by reviewing collaborations with different schools and departments across the University and the differences between the University of Minnesota and the University of California-San Francisco. He comments on his experiences as the College of Medical Sciences reorganized as the Academic Health Center and relations with the state legislature. Dr. Najarian then discusses the following topics: changes to the hospital’s Board of Governors; space and staffing issues; the expansion of the hospital in the late 1970s and 1980s; and the sale of University Hospital to Fairview. Dr. Najarian spends a considerable portion of the interview reflecting on the development of Minnesota antilymphocyte globulin (ALG) and the legal problems he faced with the FDA and the University surrounding its sale. In the remainder of the interview, Dr. Najarian discusses the following topics: the leadership of Lyle French and Neal Vanselow; the impact of the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984; transplants conducted in pediatric patients and Jamie Fisk’s successful liver transplant at eleven months old; and changes in surgical technologies. He concludes his interview with reflections on the legacy of Dr. Owen Wangensteen and other figures important to the history of the AHC.