Robert T. Patrick, 1943
M.D., University of Louisville
M.S., University of Minnesota, Duluth
Casper, Wyo.
Citation awarded on Saturday, June 3, 1972
A preeminent anesthesiologist, Dr. Robert Thornton Patrick has made notable contributions to patient care, teaching, research, and administrative service in the medical profession.
Currently in the private practice of anesthesiology, Dr. Patrick was in teaching and research as a consultant at Mayo Clinic from 1952 to 1961 and as a member of the faculty of Mayo Graduate School from 1953 to 1961. His years of research focused upon studies of the stresses of anesthesia upon human circulation and respiratory systems. Out of this research came the development of a mechanical pump-oxygenator, one of the great advances of modern surgery which made open heart surgery possible.
His contributions to teaching and research in his chosen specialty have resulted in more than 30 published papers and an associate editorship of Survey of Anesthesiology. It has also resulted in a governorship on the American College of Anesthesiologists, the presidency of the American Boards of Anesthesiologists in 1971, and chairmanships of important committees of the American Board of Anesthesiologists and the American Society of Anesthesiologists.
A growing desire to return to independent private practice was realized in 1961. In 1967, he returned to teaching at the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine. While in private practice he has been elected as chief of staff, secretary, and co-director of Inhalation Therapy Services of the hospitals he has served.
