Richard Barley Channing Cattell was a pioneering

biliary duct A bile duct is any of a number of long tube-like structures that carry bile, and is present in most vertebrates. Bile is required for the digestion of food and is secreted by the liver into passages that carry bile toward the hepatic duct. It ...

reconstructive surgeon and past director of the Lahey Clinic, now known as

Lahey Hospital & Medical Center The Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, formerly known as the Lahey Clinic, is a physician-led nonprofit teaching hospital of Tufts University School of Medicine based in Burlington, Massachusetts. The hospital was founded in Boston in 1923 by surgeo ...

. In addition, he was distinguished in surgeries on the

gastrointestinal tract The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organ (biology), organs of the digestive syste ...

pancreas The pancreas is an organ of the digestive system and endocrine system of vertebrates. In humans, it is located in the abdomen behind the stomach and functions as a gland. The pancreas is a mixed or heterocrine gland, i.e. it has both an end ...

and

thyroid The thyroid, or thyroid gland, is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans it is in the neck and consists of two connected lobes. The lower two thirds of the lobes are connected by a thin band of tissue called the thyroid isthmus. The thy ...

. He was renowned for operating on patients from all over the world including

Sir Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achieving rapid promo ...

Early life

Cattell was born 21 March 1900 in Martins Ferry, Ohio, graduated from Mount Union College with an A.B. degree and subsequently moved to

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

to study medicine. His family were

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

and he embraced their beliefs, particularly regarding responsibility and patience, when it came to teaching medicine later on. He was inspired to study medicine from the age of 16 years, principally by his surgeon uncle, Dick Brenneman and the early death of his mother, from

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, in 1917, Cattell joined the Army Medical Corps.

Surgical career

After training at St Luke’s Hospital in New York and at the Lahey clinic, in 1927 Cattell became part of the clinical staff. The founder of the clinic, Dr Frank Lahey, died in 1953, resulting in Cattell becoming the new director. He held this position until illness caused him to retire in 1962. He served as Governor and Regent at the American College of Surgeons, a previous president of the Interstate Postgraduate Medical Association and a director of the Massachusetts division of the American Cancer Society. Cattell was visiting London when Anthony Eden was a matter of surgical decision. A mishap in surgery in 1953 had led to Eden developing surgical complications. Despite

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

and lord Moran's wishes that reconstructive surgery be performed in London,

Horace Evans, 1st Baron Evans Horace Evans, 1st Baron Evans GCVO (1 January 1903 – 26 October 1963) was a Welsh general physician known for serving the British royal family. The son of musician Harry Evans, Evans left his studies in music at age 18 years to pursue a ...

managed to persuade further surgery under Cattell in the United States.

Awards

Cattell received an honorary Doctor of Science degree by

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

. The Buffalo Surgical Society presented him with the Roswell Park Medal and the Harrisburg (Pa.) Surgical Society awarded the George B. Kunkel Surgical Medal.

Family

Cattell was married to Agnes Campbell Matsinger. They had two daughters and three sons. When he died at age 64 years, Cattell also had nine grandchildren.

Legacy

Cattell's principal legacy will remain his reputation for operating on the 'complex case'.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cattell, Richard 1900 births 1964 deaths American surgeons Harvard Medical School alumni University of Mount Union alumni 20th-century surgeons