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MIAMI – Dr. Lynn Harrison Jr., a nationally-recognized leader in cardiothoracic surgery, has joined Florida International University’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine as chief of the division of cardiothoracic surgery and professor of clinical cardiovascular surgery for Baptist Health South Florida.
Harrison will help design the clinical experience in heart and lung surgery for FIU’s third and fourth-year medical students.
“This is an incredible opportunity to shape the education of FIU medical students as they make the transition from the classroom,” Harrison said. “Exposure to cardiothoracic surgery and cardiovascular physiology will be useful in most areas of medicine that the students might pursue, including general practice, obstetrics and gynecology, geriatrics and pediatrics. I am also looking forward to working with students, which will be an energizing and rejuvenating experience.”
Harrison, 66, is credited with leading the transformation of the University of Massachusetts’ cardiac surgery program into one of the top 100 programs in the United States. At UMass Memorial Medical Center, Harrison restored a heart surgery program that had been shut down voluntarily because of high death rates. One year after Harrison’s arrival, the UMass Memorial cardiac surgery program had some of the best outcomes in the nation and earned a three-star rating from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the highest category of quality, awarded to only 15 percent of hospitals with heart surgery programs.
“We are excited to have a physician of the caliber of Dr. Harrison playing such an important role in the education of our students,” said Dr. John Rock, founding dean of the Wertheim College of Medicine. “This is another example of how our partnership with Baptist Health South Florida and its doctors is helping us achieve our mission of training compassionate, culturally competent physicians who are dedicated to serving their communities.”
Before joining UMass, Harrison served as the Craighead professor of surgery and chief of cardiothoracic surgery at the Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans. Harrison is a Diplomate of the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery and has trained other physicians in a variety of surgical techniques. His research and clinical findings also have been widely published.
A native of Oklahoma City, Harrison has a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a medical degree from the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine. He completed his training in general and cardiothoracic surgery at Duke University, where he was a Teaching Scholar in Cardiac Surgery.
Harrison and his wife, Lura, live in Miami. They have two grown children.
In addition to Baptist Health South Florida, FIU’s other clinical partners include Jackson Health Systems, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Children’s Hospital, Mercy Hospital, Leon Medical Centers, Memorial Healthcare System, Broward Health and Cleveland Clinic Florida.
Media Contact: Maydel Santana-Bravo at 305-348-1555.
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I applaud the ongoing efforts to establish FIU among the most dynamic and exciting universities in the USA. Dr. Harrison will certainly contribute to that goal. Although far from my Arizona home, I often recall those student days of 1974 – 76, when there were only three permanent buildings (two in my first year) on one campus. And each one exuded the "fragrance" of fresh concrete. I remember the frustration of having to explain – almost every time it came up in conversation (even among Floridians) – exactly "where" FIU was located. Congratulations on the multiple successes so far. I know the future is bright for FIU. Go Panthers! Blue and Gold Never Get Old!
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