Texas Heart Institute Celebrates 50th Anniversary of the World’s First Total Artificial Heart

Denton A. Cooley, MD recognized that the quality of patient care could be augmented by highly trained and competent perfusion technologists, and he started the Texas Heart Institute School of Perfusion Technology on December 1, 1971. Today, the school continues to attract bright college graduates interested in an exhilarating career in the medical field. The program became the first perfusion school to be accredited by the American Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion in 1976. Through a nationally recognized 18-month course of intensive study, the program offers a post-baccalaureate certificate in perfusion technology. Over 1,000 perfusionists have been trained at the School since its inception and have gone on to work in hospitals and medical facilities around the U.S. and the world.