On December 3, 1968, the Medical College of South Carolina (MCSC) performed the first major organ transplant in its history and the first in the state of South Carolina. The kidney transplant was performed by a team of doctors who, in the years and months preceding the operation, developed an innovative procedure that addressed the body's acceptance or rejection of foreign matter. These interviews document the experiences of the transplant team – made up of surgeons, laboratory technicians, and operating room technicians – in preparing for the transplantation, performing the operation, and the organ recipient’s recovery. Surgeons describe the operation; clinical engineering staff explained their research into the causes of organ rejection, the development of a procedure to address rejection, and the production of a device, the SCIRT pump, to remove lymphocytes from a patient’s blood. In addition, an interview was conducted with the family of the recipient and donor. They recalled the recipient’s health and the impact of the transplant on his life. Six interviews were conducted between October 2008 and March 2009 in preparation for the development of an online exhibit, “Overcoming the Rejection Factor: MUSC’s First Organ Transplant.”
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