• Introduction
• A Timeline of Kidney Transplantation
• Patient Identified
  • In Their Own Words
• Research and Preparation
  • In Their Own Words
• The Operation
  • In Their Own Words
• Post-Operative
  • In Their Own Words
• Media Coverage
  • In Their Own Words
• Post-Script
• Development of the MUSC Transplant Program
• Biographies
• Glossary of Medical and Scientific Terms
• References
• For More Information
• Acknowledgements

Development of the MUSC Transplant Program

MUSC Transplant Center

For 40 years MUSC Transplant Center has been extending the lives of people in South Carolina. Over these years transplantation has changed dramatically. The progress that has been made in this discipline has happened in the last 40 years. Transplantation has overcome a lot of obstacles and come from mirage to actuality. We started kidney transplantation with ideal unions between recipients and living donors then encountered great strides with tissue typing and immunosuppression. By the 80’s, we had entered a portal of endless possibilities in technology, medications and patient education, thus making kidney transplant efficient, sound and established procedure. There have been many barriers with dialysis, rejection and preserving the organ. Scientists learned how to defeat the human body’s defense system. Determined surgeons have shortened the time it takes to perform the transplant to how the patient or patients have to stay in the hospital. Over the past 40 years the MUSC Transplant Center has achieved great accomplishments and continues to save the lives of those in need.

MUSC Department of Surgery

Department of Surgery is dedicated to providing the finest in patient care while also seeking new and innovative solutions to the many diseases treated in the wide ranging discipline of surgery. Its mission is to provide patient care recognized for excellence integrated with innovative research which leads to the advancement of medical science and state of the art training for surgeons and future physicians. Additionally, residency programs provide outstanding training for future surgeons offering residents opportunities to pursue their own career goals through patient care experiences, research opportunities and active teaching by diverse faculty. The Department of Surgery includes the divisions of Cardiothoracic Surgery, General Surgery, Pediatric Surgery, Plastic Surgery, Transplant Surgery, and Vascular Surgery. Each of these six services is based at the MUSC Medical Center. The Division of General Surgery includes the Sections of General and Gastrointestinal Surgery, Surgical Oncology, and Trauma and Critical Care. With such a wide range of surgical disciplines represented, the MUSC Department of Surgery is able to care for virtually any patient problem, and do so with the expertise one would expect from a major university medical center.