Virginia Apgar Presented by: Marie Louise E. Fabien IDS 4920 (U04) 09/30/08
About Apgar ► She was born June 7 th, 1909 in Westfield, New Jersey ► She was an American physician who specialized in Anesthesia and Pediatrics ► She is mostly known for implementing the “Apgar score”
What is Apgar score? Apgar test ► It is the test that helps determine the health of a newborn baby ► To better determine this fact, a test is conducted on five criteria summarized in the name of Apgar ► Dr. Virginia’s last name Apgar is used as a mnemonic learning aid and stands as an acronym for
Acronym Significance ► Appearance Skin color ► Pulse Heart rate ► Grimace reflex irritability ► Activity muscle tone ► Respiration
Origin and Purpose ► It was implemented in 1952 by Dr. Virginia Apgar as a simple and repeatable method of usage ► It helps assess quickly and summarily the health of newborn children immediately after birth (1-5mns) ► The test is conducted in a scale of zero to 2 summing up the 5 main criteria ► The resulting scores are ranged from 0 to 10
Chart and score Interpretations /wiki/Apgar_score /wiki/Apgar_score /wiki/Apgar_score /wiki/Apgar_score ► Scores from 3 and below are critically low ► From 4 to 6 are fairly low ► 7 to 10 normal
Test on a normal baby Jaden Ezra Previllon Born on July 30 th, 2007 at Memorial Hospital with 9 as Apgar score ► Based on the score, Jaden is a healthy baby ► However, critically low, fairly low, and normal scoring does not predict the long term health of a baby
Test on a premature baby Premature babies usually have lower Apgar scores than full term babies They usually have a lower muscle tone (activity) (activity)
Facts Virginia Apgar was one of four women to enter Colombia University college of physicians & Surgeons in 1929 after graduating from Mount Holyoke College Graduated fourth in her class in 1933 MD First woman to be a full professor at Columbia University College of P&S in 1949 In 1959, She obtained a master’s degree in Public health from John Hopkins Apgar died in New York city on august 7 th, 1974 at the tender age of 65 She was never married In 1995, she was inducted into National Women’s Hall of Fame Until this day her method of determining the health of a baby born is still used effectively and is named after her The Virginia Apgar award is given annually by the academy of Pediatrics
Interesting remarks ► The acronym that her last name formed is also valuable for three languages (German, Spanish, &French) A- Atmung, Aparienca, Apparence P- Puls, Pulso, Pouls G- Grundtonus, Gesticulacion, Grimace A- Aussehen, Actividad, Activite R – Reflexe, Respiracion, Respiration
Interesting Remarks suite ► Born on 7 th ► Died on 7 th ► Initials VA for the state is also her First name ► Played Violin and also created one
Sources ► ► emarkable_columbians/virginia_apgar.html emarkable_columbians/virginia_apgar.html emarkable_columbians/virginia_apgar.html ► medicine/physicians/biography_12.html medicine/physicians/biography_12.html medicine/physicians/biography_12.html ► days/apgar.html days/apgar.html days/apgar.html
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