The title is a syntax portmanteau, if there is such a thing, because today is all about “being first.” And that’s something Transonic knows about.

Forty years ago, we developed the first medical application of transit time flow measurement. Recently, we developed the first application of this tech for monitoring distal limb perfusion that doesn’t require splicing into the circuit. Both of these “firsts” have allowed clinicians to improve their patient care around the globe. So sometimes being first is the best feeling in the world.

The first man to walk on the moon was Neil Armstrong. People often speculate how miraculous it must have felt. But considering the inchworm steps and tiny, flailing arm motions that seem to be the limits of spacesuit mobility, one might wonder if it felt more like an intergalactic straightjacket. So sometimes “firsts” aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.

So yes, we know about being first, but we respectfully put all our achievements aside and take a bow to Rebecca Lee Crumpler. She was first in a heroic and costly way, and received much unjust treatment for it. On this day, March 1^st, 1864, she became the first African American woman in the US to graduate as a Doctor of Medicine when the board at the New England Female Medical College granted her the well-earned title of “Doctoress of Medicine.”

Dr. Crumpler practiced medicine for years, healing the sick and injured, which would have been hard enough without prejudiced people going out of their way to resist her every effort. Considering the social climate of the time, we can only imagine the price she paid for her dedication to doing what she knew was right and good.

So whether you are a clinician, researcher, or biomedical engineer, when you are struggling to do what you know is best, we humbly offer you the example of Rebecca Lee Crumpler. She started a change that is still transforming the world today, more than 160 years later.

Stay your course. Do what you know you should.

Who knows, your efforts just might change the world, someday.

Thanks for reading,

               Transonic Systems, Inc.

                              The Measure of Better Results