About the Doodle:
At a young age, his mother developed breast cancer, giving rise to Dr. Chang’s connection to and interest in the medical field. He studied medicine and surgery at the University of Sydney, before starting residency training at St. Vincent’s Hospital and working at several hospitals around the world. He returned to Australia in 1972 and became a cardiothoracic surgeon at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney.
One of his most impactful contributions to medicine was the development of St. Vincent's artificial heart valve. It was significantly cheaper than previous models, making it globally accessible for use in lifesaving procedures.
Dr. Chang also performed a successful heart transplant on the youngest Australian patient, Fiona Coote, in 1984 when she was just 14 years old. She received a second heart transplant two years later and today, Fiona is Australia’s longest surviving heart transplant recipient.
As a testament to how impactful his medical advancements were, Dr. Chang was voted Australian of the Century at the People’s Choice Awards in 1999, and received Australia’s highest honour in 1986: the Companion of the Order of Australia.
Dr. Chang was passionate about sharing knowledge and skills to improve global healthcare. He created the Victor Chang Foundation in 1984. The Foundation awards grants to educate South East Asian surgeons in order to bring them to St. Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney to be trained in advanced cardiac surgery, particularly heart transplantation. Grants are also given to programs that explore innovation in cardiac surgery.
In 1994, the Research Institute was founded and named after him to honour his legacy and remains dedicated to finding cures, prevention, and diagnostic tools for cardiovascular disease. Through these organisations, medical developments continue to advance and save lives.
Thank you for your extraordinary work and for giving others the gift of life, Dr. Victor Chang.
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Special thanks to Dr. Chang’s estate, for their collaboration on this project. Below Vanessa Chang shares her thoughts on today’s Doodle and Dr. Chang's legacy.
Dad held a strong conviction that true success in life involved sharing one's knowledge and expertise. According to him, the key to enduring success and recognition in your endeavours was to impart knowledge, enabling others to carry on the work in your absence. He firmly believed that there was no benefit in keeping knowledge to oneself.
When it came to training overseas visitors, his approach extended beyond merely instructing. He ensured that all aspects of their life in an unfamiliar country were addressed. Drawing from his own experience as a migrant, Dad empathised with the challenges people faced when leaving their homelands, often without their families. His goal was to establish a supportive environment, making their transition as comfortable as possible.
Similarly, when it came to the role he played in his patients’ lives, his involvement continued well after he had operated on them. His young heart transplant patient, Fiona, once said “I received many visits from Victor particularly with my first transplant. He would call by the window of my room most days. His standard question to me was, ‘Fi, are you happy today?’ If I smiled and gave a positive response he would continue on his way. If I didn’t, he would go to the trouble of gowning up and come in to see what the problem was. He may have only stayed a few minutes, but he would give his attention and listen to my concerns. On other occasions he would come and play cards with Rosina [the unit manager] and me, and let me cheat and win.”
