What kind of dr is r drew

Drew attended Stevens Elementary and then Dunbar High School, which was then one of the best college preparatory schools--for blacks or whites--in the country. Though bright, he was not an outstanding student; instead, he devoted much of his effort to athletics, where he excelled.

Ambitious and competitive, he lettered in four sports, and won the James E. Walker Medal for all-round athletic performance in both his junior and senior years. He was voted "best athlete," "most popular student," and "student who has done the most for the school. Drew did not express any early medical ambitions; his senior yearbook entry noted that he aspired to become an electrical engineer.

Drew graduated from Dunbar in and went to Amherst College in Massachusetts on an athletic scholarship. His achievements on the Amherst track and football teams were legendary; long after he distinguished himself as a blood banking pioneer and medical educator, many still remembered him best as an athlete.

As in high school, Drew did not excel scholastically. He did, however, develop an interest in the medical sciences through his biology courses with Otto Glaser. Later, he would also cite the death of his oldest sister, Elsie from tuberculosis complicated by influenza , in , and his own hospitalization for a college football injury as events that fostered his interest in medicine.

Drew received his AB from Amherst in To earn money for medical school, he took a job as athletic director and instructor of biology and chemistry at Morgan College now Morgan State University , in Baltimore.

During his two years at Morgan, his coaching transformed its mediocre sports teams into serious collegiate competitors.

The racial segregation of the pre-Civil Rights era constrained Drew's options for medical training. Some prominent medical schools, such as Harvard, accepted a few non-white students each year, but most African Americans aspiring to medical careers trained at black institutions such as the Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, DC, or Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee.

Drew applied to Howard, but was not accepted because he lacked enough credits in English from Amherst. Harvard accepted him, but wanted to defer his admission to the following year. McGill University allowed its graduate and professional students to play on school teams, and Drew once again became a star athlete. But he also became a star student, winning several important prizes and fellowships, and graduating second in a class of , in This work fostered an interest in transfusion medicine that Drew would later pursue in his blood bank research.

Drew hoped to extend his training with a surgical residency in the United States, preferably at the Mayo Clinic, but major American medical centers rarely took on African American residents, partly because many white patients in that era would refuse to be treated by black physicians.

The plasma was then pooled from a collection of eight bottles using an anti-contamination technique under strict air and ultraviolet lighting conditions, and samples were cultured for bacteria. An anti-bacterial called Merthiolate was added to the blood product and batches were tested weekly. Finally, each batch was transferred to a shipping container and diluted with sterile saline solution.

A final sample for bacteria-testing was taken before the containers were sealed and packed. By early August, a trial shipment of plasma was sent to England and confirmed "entirely satisfactory. Drew later returned to Howard briefly but was called back to continue supervising the BFB program. When the program ended in January , Blood for Britain collected 14, blood donations, and shipped via the Red Cross over 5, liters of plasma saline solution to England.

The program became a model for the Red Cross pilot program to mass-produce dried plasma in New York in February , with Drew as assistant director, and later for the National Blood Donor Service. Ironically, the Red Cross excluded African Americans from donating blood, making Drew himself ineligible to participate in the very program he established.

Charles Drew died tragically in North Carolina on April 1, , after falling asleep while driving to a conference.

He was given a blood transfusion at an all-white hospital but succumbed to the injuries. Careers Launch and grow your career with career services and resources. Communities Find a chemistry community of interest and connect on a local and global level. Discover Chemistry Explore the interesting world of science with articles, videos and more. Awards Recognizing and celebrating excellence in chemistry and celebrate your achievements.

Funding Funding to support the advancement of the chemical sciences through research projects. Charles Richard Drew. June 3, — April 1, Renowned surgeon and pioneer in the preservation of life-saving blood plasma. Major scientific achievements:. Discovered method for long-term storage of blood plasma Organized America's first large-scale blood bank.

Charles Richard Drew in a lab, c. The breaching of these walls and the laying of this road has not been, and is not easy. What is plasma? Charles Drew with the first mobile blood collecting unit, February Drew teaching interns and residents during rounds at Freedmen's Hospital, c Honors, Awards, Appointments. Educational Background. Books and Articles on Drew. Charles R. Drew made some groundbreaking discoveries in the storage and processing of blood for transfusions.

He also managed two of the largest blood banks during World War II. Drew grew up in Washington, D. In his youth, Drew showed great athletic talent. He won several medals for swimming in his elementary years, and later branched out to football, basketball and other sports. There, he distinguished himself on the track and football teams.

Drew completed his bachelor's degree at Amherst in , but didn't have enough money to pursue his dream of attending medical school. He worked as a biology instructor and a coach for Morgan College, now Morgan State University, in Baltimore for two years.

At McGill University, Drew quickly proved to be a top student. He won a prize in neuroanatomy and was a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha, a medical honor society. Graduating in , Drew was second in his class and earned both Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery degrees. During this time, Drew studied with Dr.

John Beattie, and they examined problems and issues regarding blood transfusions. After his father's death, Drew returned to the United States. He became an instructor at Howard University's medical school in The following year, he did a surgery residence at Freedmen's Hospital in Washington, D.

There, he continued his exploration of blood-related matters with John Scudder. Drew developed a method for processing and preserving blood plasma, or blood without cells. Plasma lasts much longer than whole blood, making it possible to be stored or "banked" for longer periods of time. He discovered that the plasma could be dried and then reconstituted when needed.