Mark M. Ravitch MD: Surgeon, author, teacher, soldier
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Read the article on jpedsurg.org ↗Article · Jul 2020 · 1 min read
In brief
In brief
Mark M. Ravitch was a pioneering 20th-century surgeon whose contributions spanned pediatric surgery, colorectal disease, and chest wall deformities. His most transformative legacy was introducing surgical stapling technology from the Soviet Union, which became foundational to modern minimally invasive surgery.
Written by the GCMD Library team from the article.
Mark M. Ravitch (1910–1989) was the most prolific surgeon–author of the 20th Century as well as an outstanding clinical surgeon, scholar, historian, and researcher. While today he would not be considered a "pure pediatric surgeon," he was a charter member of the American Pediatric Surgical Association and received the William E. Ladd medal from the Surgical Section of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Denis Brown Medal from the British Association of Pediatric Surgeons. He contributed to the treatment of benign colon and rectal disease, intussusception, and chest wall deformities. His most enduring contribution was surgical stapling, a technology that he brought from Russia during the Cold War that opened the door to minimally invasive surgery.