Dr. Christian Barnard

Dr. Chrstiaan Barnard was the first doctor to do the first successful heart transplant. Barnard grew up in Beaufort West, Cape Province, Union of South Africa. He went to study medicine at the University of Cape Town Medical School in 1945. He went into being a general practitioner in Ceres, a rural town in the Cape Province. Barnard got a doctorate in medicine and he received a two-year scholarship for postgraduate training in cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, United States. After two years there he received a Master in science of surgery. He returned to South Africa in 1958 where he was appointed Head of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the teaching hospitals of the University of Cape Town. He rose to many highly respected positions in medicine.

Where Christiaan really got his fame however was from doing the first successful heart transplant. On 3 December 1967, Barnard operated on Louis Washkansky, a 54-year-old grocer, suffering from diabetes and incurable heart disease. Barnard was assisted by his brother and used a team of almost thirty people. The operation lasted nearly nine hours. The transplant was successful and the patient, Louis survived the operation and lived for 18 days. However he died from pneumonia because he was taking Immunosuppressive drugs. Although the first patient survived for only a little more than two weeks, Barnard had passed a milestone.
http://www.who2.com/christiaanbarnard.html
how do u think surgery has advanced since then?