Claude H. Organ, Jr

8/13/2019 Claude H. Organ, Jr

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SPECIAL ARTICLES

Claude H. Organ, Jr, MD, FRCSSA, FRACS

Catherine D. DeAngelis, MD, MPH

Dr Claude Organ was a person withreal presence. That is, he had a dis-tinguished bearing andpoisethat as-sured all observers of his effective-ness. And effective he was witheverything in which he became in-volved.Hismaterialachievementsacademic rank, awards, officer-ships, editorship, etcwere legionbut paled when compared with hisabilityto help people. All of this was

the result of one special character-istic: he cared.

I cant think about Claude with-out smiling. It just felt good to be inhis presence. His dry humor, pithyremarks, and nonverbal body lan-guage were educational and enter-taining. No meeting was boring ifClaude was present. And his writ-ing emulates his persona. I recall aletter from him to an author thatstated simply, Dear Dr _______,Please assure the Editor that thematerial in your submitted paperis not essentially contained in ref-

erence 17. This was truly a cleansurgical cut.

The medical profession has losta true gem, butClaudeOrgans pres-ence remains through those whohadthe good fortune to know him.

Accepted for Publication: August22, 2005.Correspondence: Catherine D.DeAngelis, JAMA, 515 N State St,10th Floor, Chicago, IL 60610([email protected]).

Claude H. Organ, Jr

Thomas R. Russell, MD

Claude H. Organ, Jr, MD, formereditor of this journal, 84th president

of theAmerican College of Surgeons(ACS),and a mentor ofmine, diedofheart failureon Saturday,June 18,inOakland, Calif, at age 78 years. I hadthegoodfortune to have trained un-der Dr Organ; to have worked withhimafterenteringpracticeinSanFran-cisco, Calif; and to have helped himachieve his goals as ACS president.

OVERCOMING CHALLENGES

Dr Organs roots were humble, andhe never forgot where he came from

or how much determination it tookfor an African American individualborn in the segregated South to suc-ceed in this demanding and, frankly,often elitist profession.

He was born October 16, 1926,in Marshall, Tex, and received his

secondary education in the publicschools of Denison, Tex. He gradu-

ated cum laude with his bachelor ofscience degree from Xavier Univer-sity, New Orleans, La. He was thenaccepted to the University of TexasMedical School, but when theschools administration discoveredthat he was black, they offered to paythe difference in tuition for him tomatriculate elsewhere.

Although such discriminationmay have driven some people tocynicism or despair, Dr Organ heldonto his dream of becoming a sur-geon. He went on to earn his medi-cal degree from Creighton MedicalSchool, Omaha, Neb, where healso completed his surgical train-ing. His dissertation for a master ofsurgery degree focused on the acid-reducing mechanisms of the duo-denum and was completed with theassistance of his scientific advisors,C.M. Wilhmenj, MD, and R.S.K.Lim, MD.

DEDICATED EDUCATOR

After serving as a lieutenant com-mander in the US Navy MedicalCorps, Dr Organ joined the facultyof the department of surgery atCreighton University, where he roseto the rank of professor and was ap-pointed chair. While at Creighton,he developed an elective surgicalhonors program for senior medicalstudents who wanted to pursue a ca-reer in academic surgery. He wenton to serve as professor of surgeryat the University of OklahomaHealth Sciences Center, Oklahoma

City.In 1989, Dr Organ establishedandbecame chair of thesurgicalresi-dency program at the University ofCalifornia San FranciscoEast Bay.His work to support and encouragesurgical residents to engage in bio-molecular research and enter aca-demic surgery was a valued part ofhis career. Approximately 30 resi-dents in the University of Califor-

Author Affiliations:Editor-in-Chief,JAMA, Chicago, Ill.

Author Affiliations:American Collegeof Surgeons, Chicago, Ill.

(REPRINTED) ARCH SURG/VOL 140, NOV 2005 WWW.ARCHSURG.COM1027

2005 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.

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nia San FranciscoEast Bay pro-gram went on to undertake 2 to 3years of research experience inprominent laboratories.

Dr Organ truly loved beinga sur-gical educator and always recog-nized that the future of this profes-sion depends on how well we meetthe evolving needs of medical stu-

dents and surgical residents. As aneducator, Dr Organ demanded ex-cellence from the residents hetrained. He accepted no excuses forpoor performance and maintainedthe highest standards. Some resi-dents and colleagues found his te-nacity and expectations a bit off-putting. But after all was said anddone, one had to admit that he wasonly trying to ensure that the sur-geons he trained received the bestpossible education and were pre-pared to meet the challenges they

would face in patient care. Dr Or-gan was an inspiration to his resi-dents, and he took enormous pridein their accomplishments.

SURGICAL LEADERSHIP

Given his commitment to surgicaleducation, it came as no surprisewhen he announced that he wantedhis term as president of the ACS tobe known as the year of the resi-dent. During thecourse of that year,he encouraged the development of

the Resident and Associate Societyof the ACS and a range of activitiesintended to advance the role ofyoung people in this organization.

His presidency was the culmina-tion of many years of service to thecollege. Dr Organ was initiated intothe college in 1961 and thereafterservedas an active participant in andleader of this fellowship. In 1999, theACSBoard of Regents presentedhimwith its highest honor: the Distin-guished Service Award. Dr Organserved as second vicepresident ofthe

college from 2001 to 2002. He wasa member of the Commission onCancer (1979-1989), a senior mem-ber of the Postoperative Care Com-mittee (1986-1996), and a memberof the International Relations Com-mittee (1991-2001). He was in-stalled as the second African Ameri-can president of the college duringthe convocation ceremony of the2003 Clinical Congress.

Numerous other surgical organi-zations and societiesbenefitted fromDr Organs leadership acumen. In1984,he was elected presidentof theSouthwestern Surgical Congress. Hispresidency of that organization wasmarkedby significant changes in theassociations policies,programs, andinitiatives. To recognize his pro-

found effect on the SouthwesternSurgical Congress, in 1995 the or-ganization inaugurated the ClaudeH. Organ, Jr, Basic Science Lecture.

In addition, Dr Organ served asa national director of Alpha OmegaAlpha Honor Medical Society (1979-1989), director (1978-1986) andchairman(1984-1986) of the Ameri-can Board of Surgery, and presi-dent of the Western Surgical Asso-ciation (2002). He also was amember of numerous professionalscientific organizations, including

the American, Western, PacificCoast, and Southern Surgical Asso-ciations.

He wasan honorary fellow of sev-eral international organizations, in-cluding the Royal Australasian Col-lege of Surgeons, the Royal Collegeof Surgeons of South Africa, theRoyal College of Surgeons (Edin-burgh and England), and the Asso-ciation of Surgeons of Great Britainand Ireland. He also held honorarydoctorate degrees from the Univer-sity of Nebraska, Xavier Univer-

sity, and the University of Athens,Greece.

EDITOR, AUTHOR, LECTURER

Dr Organ served as editor-in-chief of the ARCHIVESfor 15 years.During his tenure, Claude Organnegotiated multiple practical andconceptual hurdles. He initiated uni-versity-based theme issues and ex-panded the purview of the journalto include the topicsof ethics, teach-ing, surgical history, and socioeco-

nomics. Indeed, Dr Organ orches-trated thoughtful and stimulatingdiscussions about all areas of inter-est to surgeons and negotiated theincreasing circulation and copy-right challenges posed by the ex-panding universe of Web-basedpublishing.

Dr Organs love of a good intel-lectual fight was reflected in theARCHIVES content. He encouraged

balanced authoritative commentaryand the sort of high-octane dialoguethat made reading the journal enjoy-able. By expanding the scope of thematerial in the ARCHIVES, Dr Organpumped academic and financial lifeback into thepublication, whichwasin financial trouble when he first as-sumed the mantle.

Additionally, Dr Organ au-thoredor cowrote more than 250 sci-entific articles and book chapters.One of his articles refuted the myththat Charles Drew, MD, died be-cause he was refused a blood trans-fusion at a segregated hospital. Healso contributed several booksto thesurgical literature, including the2-volume A Century of Black Sur-geons: The USA Experience(1987),Gasless Laparoscopy with Conven-tional Instruments (1993), and Ab-dominal Access in Open and Laparo-

scopic Surgery(1996).Dr Organ shared his knowledgeand communication skills with sur-geons in all corners of this countryand the rest of the world through themany named lectureships he deliv-ered. For example, he twice gave theopening ceremony lecture at theClinical Congress of the ACS (1990and1995). He also presentedthe Ar-chibald Watson Lecture (Austra-lia), the Zollicoffer Lecture (NorthCarolina), the Michael and JamieMiller Lecture (South Africa), and

many more.

CONCERNED CITIZEN

During his very moving ACS presi-dential address, Dr Organ urged thecolleges initiates to embrace adeeper professional purpose . . . tobe the complete concerned citizenof society and to make a differ-ence in this organization,their com-munities, and their institutions. Heconcluded hisaddress by notingthatwhere poverty exists, allare poorer;

where hatred flourishes, all are cor-rupted; and where injustice reigns,all are unequal.

He lived what he preached. DrOrgan gave back to his communityby willingly accepting his fair shareof responsibility for treating thewalking wounded. He also wasac-tive in a number of communitygroups and charitable organiza-tions. He was a former president of





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the Urban League of Omaha andserved on the board of directors ofBoys Town. He also was director ofthe National Catholic Conference forHuman Justice (1972-1974) and atrustee of both Howard Universityand Meharry Medical College.

FAMILY MAN

Dr Organ is survived by his wife of52 years, Elizabeth (Betty) LucilleMays Organ, and 7 successful adultchildrenspecifically, Brian C. Or-

gan, MD, FACS, a general surgeon;Gregory M. Organ, MD, FACS, a pe-diatric surgeon; Paul Organ, MD, apsychiatrist; Claude H. Organ III, abank executive; David Organ, a uni-versity professor in geography; San-dra Organ, a former principaldancerwith a balletcompanywho nowownsthe Sandra Organ Dance Company;

and Rita Organ, a museum curator.He also is survived by 10 grandchil-dren; hissister, ClaudestaGould; andhis brother, Henry Organ, Sr.

I know his children and thosewho trained under Dr Organ wouldattributemuch of their success to hisuncompromising standards of ex-cellence. His inspiration will besorely missed.

Accepted for Publication: August18, 2005.

Correspondence: Thomas R. Rus-sell, MD, American College of Sur-geons, 633 N St Clair St, Chicago,IL 60611 ([email protected]).

Behind the Scenes With a Giant in American Surgery

Margaret M. Kosiba

I first met Dr Organ in 1973whileat-tending nursing school at the Uni-versity of Nebraska College of Nurs-ing (Omaha). He was the chair ofsurgery at Creighton UniversitySchool of Medicine; I was transcrib-ing reports in themedical records de-partment at St Josephs Hospital(Creightons main teaching hospi-tal) by night and studying byday. Heasked me to meet with him becausehe had heard and observedthatI wastyping his surgery residents re-search papers on a department type-writerin mysparetimeandnot charg-ing the residents for this service. Inthe interview, he recognized quali-ties in me that were the foundationfor his career in American surgery:passion for workand the needto helpothers. Needless to say, the next daywe were players on the same team.

I recognized immediately that DrOrgan was like no other person I had

ever known. He not only was pas-sionate about hiswork butalso func-tioned at the highest standard andlevel of expectation.He worked hardduring extremely long days, and ev-ery evening and weekend he car-ried home an expandable, 5-in

leather briefcase filled with readingmaterial and homework. I often sawthe smile on his face when he, withcare, put mywork for the day inhisoverflowing out box. The chal-lenge for both of us was to com-plete the work needed in a timelyfashion with care, diligence, and ac-curacy, but always within an over-loaded system providing little sup-

port for excellence. He appreciatedmy proofreading everything, pro-tecting him, and making him lookgood, as he used to say. His hand-writing was exceedingly small, buthis scribbled thank yous were as bigas life all over those documents. Al-though he struggled in his quest forexcellence, he never gave up. Dr Or-gan had a vision and too many ideasfor 1 surgeon in 1 lifetime. Eventhough he did not want nor expectmeto work long hours ashe did, heappreciated those efforts and learned

to grant me the freedom to com-plete his projects to my satisfactionas well. The projects were finishedwithin designated deadlines, but herecognized my need to feel a part ofeach project, to be able to take own-ership, and to complete each projectat our mutual high standard. Heknew when to give and take. He of-ten said with good humor, Marga-ret, I cant do anything with you, and

I cant do anything without you. Hesometimes struggled with my needto do things right; I was taught as achildthat things done by halves werenever done right andinvariably werereturned to be redone anyway. One

of his favorite sayings was that he,too, didnt like taking real estatetwice. Dr Organ learned his les-sons well in Americansurgery;whenhe developed the surgical resi-dency program at the University ofCalifornia San FranciscoEast Bay inOakland, he created in less than 15years a program that some institu-tions have taken 50 to 75 years todevelop. I might add that some of

Claude H. Organ, Jr, MD, andMargaret M. Kosiba.

Author Affiliations:Division ofTransplant, University of California,San Francisco.




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Claude H. Organ, Jr