Sharon A. Hunt : An Oral History
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Sharon Ann Hunt is a Professor of Medicine, Emerita, in Cardiovascular Medicine at the Stanford University Medical Center. In this interview, Dr. Hunt speaks about her childhood in Cleveland and the expectations of her parents for her life. She discusses how student jobs working for a plant physiologist at the University of Dayton and cardiologists at the Cleveland Clinic led to her interest in a career in science and medicine. Dr. Hunt recounts her pioneering work on a small fellowship team in the aftercare of the early heart transplant patients of Dr. Norman Shumway, including the development of endomyocardial biopsy to diagnose rejection and the use of cyclosporin in heart transplant patients. Other topics covered include gender issues in medicine, the failed merger of Stanford’s Medical School with University of California San Francisco, and her retirement activities.
- Summary
- Childhood and family in Cleveland, Ohio • Parents’ expectations; gender roles • Influential high school teachers in science and English • Job working with plant physiologist Donald Geiger at University of Dayton • Summer job in the Cleveland Clinic Cardiology Division and its impact on her career path • Choosing Stanford for medical school • Fellowship in aftercare of Norman Shumway’s early heart transplant patients • Choosing not to be a surgeon • Contributions to the improvement of aftercare for heart transplant patients, including collaborating with Philip Caves and Margaret Billingham on the heart biopsy technique, and introducing the use of cyclosporin for immunosuppression • Supportive cardiologists, including Richard Popp • Reflections on women in cardiology, surgery, and medicine • Impact of Dr. Frances Conley speaking out about sexual harassment • Not experiencing personal gender discrimination • Involvement with International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation • Heart and lung transplants • Failed merger of Stanford and UCSF hospitals and clinics • Mechanical assistance devices / ventricular assist devices • Brain death debates and impact on organ donation • Thoughts on collaboration across departmental and school lines and change over time in the medical school • Most cherished honors • Managing a family and career • Remarriage • Retirement • Continued connection with professional journals
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Extent | 1 text file |
| Place | Stanford (Calif.) |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
| Date created | January 27, 2020 |
| Language | English |
| Digital origin | born digital |
Creators/Contributors
| Interviewee | Hunt, Sharon A. | |
|---|---|---|
| Creator | Hunt, Sharon A. | |
| Interviewer | Kiefer, Joyce | |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
Subjects
| Subject | Hunt, Sharon A. |
|---|---|
| Subject | Stanford University. School of Medicine. Division of Cardiology |
| Subject | Women physicians |
| Subject | Heart > Transplantation |
| Genre | Interview |
Bibliographic information
| Biographical Profile | Dr. Sharon Hunt grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and attended the University of Dayton. She became interested in cardiology while working summers in a research lab at the Cleveland Clinic and moved--with a one-way ticket--to California after being accepted by Stanford Medical School. While there it was natural to continue her interest in cardiology and she worked in cardiology research during medical school looking at the effects of various drugs on heart muscle cells in tissue culture--a project that never led anywhere, but got her involved with the trainees and faculty in cardiology. The first heart transplant was done at Stanford during her second year of medical school and the excitement was infectious. By the time she finished cardiology fellowship, the heart surgeons were looking for a few good cardiologists to provide long term care for the transplant recipients, who were beginning to survive for long periods of time. She’s been with the program ever since and helped with many of the developments in the field which happened at Stanford during the decade of the 1970s when there was an unofficial moratorium on doing heart transplants in the rest of the world. In 2013 she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation and in 2014 was awarded Stanford’s Albion Walter Hewlett Award for her lifetime of contributions to clinical medicine at Stanford. |
|---|---|
| Audio |
|
| Finding Aid | |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/tk289dt4541 |
| Location | SC0932 |
| Repository | Stanford University. Libraries. Department of Special Collections and University Archives |
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- The materials are open for research use and may be used freely for non-commercial purposes with an attribution. For commercial permission requests, please contact the Stanford University Archives (universityarchives@stanford.edu).
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.
Collection
Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program interviews, 1999-2022
View other items in this collection in SearchWorksAlso listed in
Loading usage metrics...