Google Doodle celebrates late Vietnamese doctor’s 110th birthday

Dr Tung is a Vietnamese innovative surgeon who revolutionised the approach to liver resection surgery for doctors around the world.

He was originally born in the central province of Thua Thien Hue province in 1912, a time when the French colonial government forbade local people from pursuing advanced medical education.

According to Google, as an adult Dr Tung protested this harsh policy and launched an equal education movement. His efforts eventually forced the colonial government to permit Vietnamese students to take residency admissions exams in 1938.

During his four years of postgraduate school, Dr Tung dissected more than 200 livers and became the first person to conduct such meticulous research on the organ. His deep knowledge of the liver anatomy helped him to realise that the traditional approach to liver surgery, a method that typically took three to six hours to complete, was both unnecessarily risky and cumbersome.

The Vietnamese doctor was able to discover a new surgery method that minimised bleeding by tightening the hepatic veins before the operation, thereby shortening the operation down to only four to eight minutes.

His groundbreaking technique, commonly referred to as the “Ton That Tung Method,” is renowned among surgeons globally for its ability to reduce blood loss, with this method saving countless lives.

“Happy birthday Dr. Ton That Tung! Thank you for pushing the boundaries of surgery to change the medical field forever,” says Google.

This marks the fourth time that a famous Vietnamese figure has been featured on the homepage of the world’s most popular search engine.

Google Doodle previously honoured late Vietnamese songwriter Trinh Cong Son on his 80th birthday, late Vietnamese painter and artist Bui Xuan Phai on his 99th birthday, and late female poet Xuan Quynh on her 77th birthday.