--- title: Team Player image: https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/hubfs/CC%20Magazine/Centennial/1960s/Team%20Player/Centennial-TeamPlayer-Social.jpg --- [![Cleveland Clinic Magazine - Giving Does Good | Centennial](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/hs-fs/hubfs/CC%20Magazine%20Template%20Assets/img/logo-cc-magazine-centennial-mb-inverse.png?noresize&width=224&height=38&name=logo-cc-magazine-centennial-mb-inverse.png) ![Cleveland Clinic Magazine - Giving Does Good | Centennial](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/hs-fs/hubfs/CC%20Magazine%20Template%20Assets/img/logo-cc-magazine-centennial-inverse.png?noresize&width=552&height=65&name=logo-cc-magazine-centennial-inverse.png)](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial?hsLang=en) [Donate](https://give.ccf.org/CCMAG) THE 1960s # Team Player ## Share - [Share on facebook](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/team-player&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook) - [Share on twitter](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/team-player&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&url=https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/team-player&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&source=tweetbutton&text=) - [Share on linkedin](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/team-player&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin) - [Share on email](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20Team%20Player%20&body=Check%20out%20https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/team-player&utm_medium=social&utm_source=email) ![Dr. Rene smiling, looking out of frame, wearing a medical cap and uniform](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/hs-fs/hubfs/CC%20Magazine/Centennial/1960s/Team%20Player/Centennial-TeamPlayer-Wide.jpg?width=1030&height=798&name=Centennial-TeamPlayer-Wide.jpg) “The patient is more than an illness,” said Dr. René Favaloro, who pioneered coronary bypass surgery. “He has a soul.” |Photo: Cleveland Clinic Archives | Colorized by Sanna Dullaway He came from Argentina, a self-described “country physician” who launched his career in an impoverished village. ## Also in 1967: Packers beat Chiefs 35-10 in Super Bowl I The Beatles release "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band" First pulsar discovered When the letters that he fired off in hopes of furthering his training at Cleveland Clinic went unanswered, he showed up unannounced in Cleveland. George “Barney” Crile Jr., MD, persuaded Donald Effler, MD, head of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, to take a chance on the persistent stranger. In short order, Dr. René Favaloro worked his way up at Cleveland Clinic from observer to resident to chief resident. By 1966, he was appointed full staff. The following year, colleagues came to Dr. Favaloro with a challenge: Could he restore blood flow to the heart of a patient with a potentially deadly coronary artery blockage? The onetime country physician was up to the task. After the heart was stopped, he removed a section of vein from the patient’s leg, sewed one end to the aorta and sewed the other end to the artery, beyond the blockage. The bypass was a success. Surgeons elsewhere laid claim to similar operations, but Dr. Favaloro was the first to perform planned coronary bypass surgery and publish the results. Nonetheless, he was modest about the monumental achievement. “I do not talk in the form ‘I,’” Dr. Favaloro told a reporter many years later. “At the Cleveland Clinic, we were a team.” ![photo of Dr. Favaloro and Dr. Sones](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/hs-fs/hubfs/CC%20Magazine/Centennial/1960s/Team%20Player/Centennial-TeamPlayer-Image-B.jpg?width=1030&height=540&name=Centennial-TeamPlayer-Image-B.jpg) Dr. Favaloro (left) used to spend hours in the office of F. Mason Sones, MD, studying films of coronary arteries. | Photo: Cleveland Clinic Archives ## Explore the Decades ### [![Polaroid of forest](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/hs-fs/hubfs/CC%20Magazine/Centennial/Origins/War%20Story/Centennial-WarStory-SmallThumbnail.jpg?width=242&height=214&name=Centennial-WarStory-SmallThumbnail.jpg) Origins](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/origins?hsLang=en) ### [![Cleveland Clinic Building](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/hs-fs/hubfs/CC%20Magazine/Centennial/1920s/Decade%20Page/1920-Small.jpg?width=242&height=214&name=1920-Small.jpg) The 1920s](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/1920s?hsLang=en) ### [![Clinic Building](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/hs-fs/hubfs/CC%20Magazine/Centennial/1930s/Decade%20Page/1930-Small.jpg?width=242&height=214&name=1930-Small.jpg) The 1930s](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/1930s?hsLang=en) ### [![George Crile Sr.](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/hs-fs/hubfs/CC%20Magazine/Centennial/1940s/Decade%20Page/1940-Small.jpg?width=242&height=214&name=1940-Small.jpg) The 1940s](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/1940s?hsLang=en) ### [![Willem Kolff, MD, PhD, holding a can](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/hs-fs/hubfs/CC%20Magazine/Centennial/1950s/Decade%20Page/1950-Small.jpg?width=242&height=214&name=1950-Small.jpg) The 1950s](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/1950s?hsLang=en) ### [![Dr. Rupert Turnball, MD with 3 women](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/hs-fs/hubfs/CC%20Magazine/Centennial/1960s/Decade%20Page/1960-Small.jpg?width=242&height=214&name=1960-Small.jpg) The 1960s](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/1960s?hsLang=en) ### [![Floyd Loop, MD](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/hs-fs/hubfs/CC%20Magazine/Centennial/1970s/Decade%20Page/1970-Small.jpg?width=242&height=214&name=1970-Small.jpg) The 1970s](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/1970s?hsLang=en) ### [![Joseph Hahn, MD operating on a patient](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/hs-fs/hubfs/CC%20Magazine/Centennial/1980s/Decade%20Page/1980-Small.jpg?width=242&height=214&name=1980-Small.jpg) The 1980s](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/1980s?hsLang=en) ### [![Sherwin building](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/hs-fs/hubfs/CC%20Magazine/Centennial/1990s/Decade%20Page/1990-Small.jpg?width=242&height=214&name=1990-Small.jpg) The 1990s](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/1990s?hsLang=en) ### [![Taussig Cancer Institute](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/hs-fs/hubfs/CC%20Magazine/Centennial/2000s/Decade/2000-Small.jpg?width=242&height=214&name=2000-Small.jpg) The 2000s](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/2000s?hsLang=en) ### [![Stewart Kohl and Larry Pollock](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/hs-fs/hubfs/CC%20Magazine/Centennial/2010s/Decade%20Page/2010-Small.jpg?width=242&height=214&name=2010-Small.jpg) The 2010s](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/2010s?hsLang=en) ### [![Lara K. Kalafatis](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/hs-fs/hubfs/CC%20Magazine/Centennial/Top%20Stories/Letter%20from%20Lara/Centennial-Lara-SmallThumbnail.jpg?width=242&height=214&name=Centennial-Lara-SmallThumbnail.jpg) Top Stories](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/top-stories?hsLang=en) - [Archive](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/archive?hsLang=en) - [Contact](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/contact-us?hsLang=en) - [Subscribe](https://donate.clevelandclinic.org/sign-up?hsLang=en) - [Purchase](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/get-your-copy-today?hsLang=en) [Donate](https://give.ccf.org/CCMAG) [![Cleveland Clinic](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/hs-fs/hubfs/CC%20Magazine%20Template%20Assets/img/logo-cc.png?width=300&name=logo-cc.png "Cleveland Clinic")](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/) © 2026 Cleveland Clinic. All rights reserved. [![Cleveland Clinic Magazine - Giving Does Good | Centennial](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/hs-fs/hubfs/CC%20Magazine%20Template%20Assets/img/logo-cc-magazine-centennial-mb-inverse.png?noresize&width=224&height=38&name=logo-cc-magazine-centennial-mb-inverse.png) ![Cleveland Clinic Magazine - Giving Does Good | Centennial](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/hs-fs/hubfs/CC%20Magazine%20Template%20Assets/img/logo-cc-magazine-centennial-inverse.png?noresize&width=552&height=65&name=logo-cc-magazine-centennial-inverse.png)](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial?hsLang=en) - [Origins](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/origins?hsLang=en) - [Meet the Founders](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/meet-the-founders?hsLang=en) - [War Story](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/war-story?hsLang=en) - [1920s](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/1920s?hsLang=en) - [The Doctors Will See You Now](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/the-doctors-will-see-you-now?hsLang=en) - [Grief Would Be Defeat](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/grief-would-be-defeat?hsLang=en) - [Caregivers' Daughter](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/caregivers-daughter?hsLang=en) - [A Clean, Well-Lighted Place](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/a-clean-well-lighted-place?hsLang=en) - [1930s](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/1930s?hsLang=en) - [Best. Job. Interview. Ever.](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/best-job-interview-ever?hsLang=en) - [Gland Theft Thyroid](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/gland-theft-thyroid?hsLang=en) - [May We Help You?](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/may-we-help-you?hsLang=en) - [Room with a View](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/room-with-a-view?hsLang=en) - [Signs of the Times](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/signs-of-the-times?hsLang=en) - [Greetings from Cleveland Clinic](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/greetings-from-cleveland-clinic?hsLang=en) - [1940s](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/1940s?hsLang=en) - [Anchors Aweigh](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/anchors-aweigh?hsLang=en) - [From the Top](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/from-the-top?hsLang=en) - [Meet the Press](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/meet-the-press?hsLang=en) - [Research Superstar](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/research-superstar?hsLang=en) - [1950s](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/1950s?hsLang=en) - [A Real Heart-Stopper](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/a-real-heart-stopper?hsLang=en) - [Artificial Intelligence](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/artificial-intelligence?hsLang=en) - [Dye! Catheter! Action!](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/dye-catheter-action?hsLang=en) - ['Everyone's Father Figure'](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/everyones-father-figure?hsLang=en) - [For Whom the Phones Toll](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/for-whom-the-phones-toll?hsLang=en) - [Lab Work](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/lab-work?hsLang=en) - [The Diet-Heart Connection](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/the-diet-heart-connection?hsLang=en) - [1960s](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/1960s?hsLang=en) - [A Campus Grows in Cleveland](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/a-campus-grows-in-cleveland?hsLang=en) - [How May I Connect You?](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/how-may-i-connect-you?hsLang=en) - [On the Trail of a Killer](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/on-the-trail-of-a-killer?hsLang=en) - [Team Player](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/team-player) - [Thinking Big](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/thinking-big?hsLang=en) - [1970s](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/1970s?hsLang=en) - [Big Data](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/big-data?hsLang=en) - [Gut Instinct](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/gut-instinct?hsLang=en) - [Image Is Everything](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/image-is-everything?hsLang=en) - [The Expanding Man](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/the-expanding-man?hsLang=en) - [World-Class Care](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/world-class-care?hsLang=en) - [1980s](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/1980s?hsLang=en) - [Building Boom](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/building-boom?hsLang=en) - ['Dr. CEO'](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/dr.-ceo?hsLang=en) - [Goodbye, Glass Ceiling](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/goodbye-glass-ceiling?hsLang=en) - [Kidney Success](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/kidney-success?hsLang=en) - [1990s](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/1990s?hsLang=en) - [Now See Here](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/now-see-here?hsLang=en) - [Research Recruiter](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/research-recruiter?hsLang=en) - [The Urge to Merge](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/the-urge-to-merge?hsLang=en) - [Top of the Charts](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/top-of-the-charts?hsLang=en) - [Miles of Files](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/miles-of-files?hsLang=en) - [2000s](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/2000s?hsLang=en) - [Art Heals](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/art-heals?hsLang=en) - [Brain Gain](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/brain-gain?hsLang=en) - [Common Ground](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/common-ground?hsLang=en) - [Heart and Soul](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/heart-and-soul?hsLang=en) - [Making the Grade](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/making-the-grade?hsLang=en) - [Towering Achievements](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/towering-achievements?hsLang=en) - [2010s](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/2010s?hsLang=en) - [Leading with Compassion](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/leading-with-compassion?hsLang=en) - [Personalized Cancer Care](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/personalized-cancer-care?hsLang=en) - [Tomorrow, the World](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/tomorrow-the-world?hsLang=en) - [Versatile Venue](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/versatile-venue?hsLang=en) - [Top Stories](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/top-stories?hsLang=en) - [A Better Tomorrow: 100 Years in the Making](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/a-better-tomorrow-100-years-in-the-making?hsLang=en) - [Heavy Mettle](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/heavy-mettle?hsLang=en) - [2121 Visions](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/2121-visions?hsLang=en) - [Make a Historic Difference](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/make-a-historic-difference?hsLang=en) - [Too Many Candles to Count](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/too-many-candles-to-count?hsLang=en) - [Then and Now](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/then-and-now?hsLang=en) Search terms Search - [Subscribe](https://donate.clevelandclinic.org/sign-up?hsLang=en) - [Contact](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/contact-us?hsLang=en) - [Purchase](https://magazine.clevelandclinic.org/2021-centennial/get-your-copy-today?hsLang=en) [Donate](https://give.ccf.org/CCMAG) ## #MaskUp & Help Us Help Others Close