A Profile in Effective Collaboration:: The Liver Transplant Team at the University of Colorado Hospital

Liver transplant surgery, once a revolutionary procedure, has become standard medical practice since Dr. Thomas Starzl pioneered the procedure in Denver 50 years ago. Much has changed in the world of transplant since those early days. Advances in technology, immunosuppression medications, and surgical techniques have moved liver transplantation into the mainstream of modern medicine. After a hospital stay of 7-12 days and a period of postoperative recovery at home, patients go back to work, raise their children, live their lives. This book seeks to describe the workings of one successful liver transplant program and the collaborative team that makes it all happen. Team members have been interviewed and, coupled with the author's observations over her 14 year tenure with the team, an overview of all facets of the liver transplant process, from evaluation through to recovery, is provided in terms that can be readily understood by the general public. Finally, for those interested in sociological theory, various pertinent theories are presented in the context of liver transplantation and the Liver Transplant Team at the University of Colorado Hospital.