When Richard J. Shemin, MD, was young, assisting his father in his veterinary practice ignited his interest in medicine. And it would be his father’s sudden death years later on the eve of Dr. Shemin’s graduation from medical school that would solidify his future course as a cardiac surgeon.
“I was set to graduate No. 1 in my class, and I wanted to surprise him when he came for my graduation,” recalls Dr. Shemin, the Robert & Kelly Day Chair in Cardiothoracic Surgery at UCLA Health.
But as he waited at the airport to pick him up, Dr. Shemin learned that his father had had a heart attack on the plane and died. “I had to pick myself up and ask myself, ‘How do I turn a tragedy like this into something that will be good? How will I use it to shape what I will do and what I become?’”
What he has become is one of the country’s foremost cardiothoracic surgeons, with a career spanning more than four decades. That history of accomplishment was recently honored by the American Heart Association (AHA), which in April gave him its Centennial Legacy Award. The award also honored Dr. Shemin’s wife, Susan, for their lifelong advocacy for the AHA through service and philanthropy.
The start of the journey
Dr. Shemin's career journey began at Boston University in a 6-year medical program accepting medical students out of high school. Dr. Shemin earned his BA in philosophy and religion, and then his MD. His residency training continued at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, followed by fellowship training at the National Institutes of Health and New York University School of Medicine. After further training in heart transplantation at Stanford University, he helped to lead the team at Brigham & Women’s Hospital that performed the first heart transplant in New England, in 1984. In 1987, he returned to Boston University as the youngest Chief of Cardiac Surgery in history at 36 years-old.
In 2007, Dr. Shemin came to UCLA Health as chief of the Division of Cardiac Surgery. “What I love about medicine,” he said, “is the team concept. I played a lot of sports, and it reminds me of football. There is a game plan. The surgeon is the quarterback, and sometimes we have to call an audible at the line of scrimmage.”
A legacy honored
When AHA leadership called and told Dr. Shemin that they wanted to give a Legacy Lifetime Achievement Award for the organization’s centennial year, “I asked, ‘Who do you have in mind?’ They said they wanted me, and for me to share it with my wife. It was such an honor,” he said.
At the award event, Dr. Shemin was introduced by UCLA and Lakers basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who talked about how Dr. Shemin’s surgical skills saved his life after he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in 2015. “I am here today, in large part, because of Dr. Shemin,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “And I’m also grateful for his constant compassion during my pre-op and recovery.”
At age 73, Dr. Shemin remains committed to extending his legacy. “I want to continue to be a role model and to continue doing research at UCLA and expanding its commitment to providing the best available care for people with cardiovascular diseases. I can hang it up tomorrow if I wanted to,” he said, “but I’m still able to hit home runs and throw touchdown passes.”
