Pulmonology is the specialty area of medicine that focuses specifically on the pulmonary system.
Late 1800s:Mechanical ventilators and the first iron lung are invented.
The administration of continuous oxygen is used for the first time to treatpneumonia.
Getty Images/ Virojt Changyencham
1904:The American Thoracic Society is founded, with an emphasis on the study and prevention oftuberculosis.
1940s:Charles C. Macklin and Madge Thurlow Macklin discover what leads topneumothoraxand barotrauma of the lungs.
The first ICU’s emerge.
1960s: The dangers of oxygen toxicity are discovered.
In 1963, the first lung transplant is performed.
1975:Thefirst infant is treated usingextracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).
There are ongoing research and advancements in the prevention and management ofacute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
After completing these requirements some pulmonologists choose to become board certified by taking a special exam.
Slutsky AS.History of mechanical ventilation.
From Vesalius to ventilator-induced lung injury.Am J Respir Crit Care Med.
2004;97(10):489-493. doi:10.1258/jrsm.97.10.489
Venuta F, Van Raemdonck D.History of lung transplantation.J Thorac Dis.
2017;9(12):5458-5471. doi:10.21037/jtd.2017.11.84
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.How did ECMO get started?
Revere Health.What is a pulmonologist.
Doctorly.org.How to become a pulmonologist.
