Surgical Renaissance in the Heartland

Book excerpt: "Beginning in the 1950s, the University of Minnesota Medical School began a period of international renown for its innovative research, progress, and the dissemination of medical knowledge-particularly in the department of surgery. At the head of his culture of innovation was Owen H. Wangensteen, whose against-the-mold approach to medical practice-where surgeons and research culture revolved around the cognitive and imaginative capabilities of the surgeon, on not mere clinical practice of existing methods-created a culture that thrived on debate and the expression of ideas"--