Werner Forssmann SocietyJohn P. McGovern Academy of Oslerian Medicine
The mission of the Werner Forssmann Osler Society is to foster ingenuity, courage, and commitment in all members of our society, school and community.
Werner Forssmann
Werner Forssmann (1904-1979) was born and educated in Berlin, Germany. He developed the first technique for cardiac catheterization, and tested the technique on himself to prove it worked. In 1929, he put himself
under local anesthetic and inserted a catheter into his own arm. Not knowing when the catheter might pierce a vein, he risked his own life and was able to pass the catheter into his own heart. He shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine with Andre Cournand
and Dickinson Richards in 1956 for his contribution in developing the technique of cardiac catheterization
A Way of Life
The vision of the Osler Student Societies is to provide developing physicians insight into "A Way of Life", described by Sir William Osler, not through formal lecture, but through the guidance of mentors in contact with students within and outside
their academic setting.