Four Decades of Clinical Experience

Foreward

This compilation presents a unique look at the first 40 years of the career of a remarkable cardiovascular surgeon. One who has refined surgical skills to an unparalleled degree in addressing whatever different surgical challenges he might encounter in the course of his work. He has maintained a meticulous and comprehensive record of his surgical experience, which stands as a tribute to him, to the surgical standards he set and to which he adhered. As one of many of his cardiology colleagues, I feel privileged to have known and worked with him — as fine a person and physician as I have ever met.

Jimmy Frank Howell, known to The Methodist Hospital community simply as “Jimmy,” was trained in cardiovascular surgery under the watchful eye of Dr. Michael E. DeBakey, whose strict discipline and adherence to a high standard of excellence shaped the entire career of Dr. Howell. He accepted an invitation to join Dr. DeBakey on completion of his training and very quickly developed his own surgical following.

One of my criteria for assessing the skill of a surgeon is to query nurses in the operating room, intensive care unit, and the surgical floors. “Still the best hands and judgment around,” is the inevitable assessment I hear. We all will look back on a career of the remarkable, the Howells and others, with awe, appreciation, and respect. I know you will enjoy and appreciate reading about the career of a remarkable surgeon — Dr. Jimmy Frank Howell.

William L. Winters Jr., M.D.

Professor of Medicine

Weill Cornell Medical College

Chief Education Officer

The Methodist Hospital Education Institute

Editor-in-Chief, Methodist DeBakey Cardiovascular Journal