The practice helped the transplant prove successful and become a landmark in the University of Utah School of Medicine's 100-year history, which will be celebrated this weekend.

"Kidney transplants were being done in such populous cities as Boston, Denver and Minneapolis," recalls Lawrence Stevens, a retired surgeon from the class of 1952 who performed the first kidney and liver transplants in the Beehive State. "For a less-populated area, we thought Utah was at the forefront. It was a very exciting time."

During alumni weekend Thursday through Saturday, U. officials will recognize a century of higher learning with a Pioneers and Progress of Medicine in Utah conference and other activities.

"Perhaps the greatest product of our school of medicine is the legacy of our alumni," said David Bjorkman, dean of the medical school. "Our graduates have made great discoveries, advanced clinical knowledge, and, most important of all, have provided skilled medical care to countless patients in Utah and around the world."

The first class had 18 students and 16 faculty, and studied a two-year course. Since then, the school has grown to 411 medical students, 663 residents, 442 graduate students, 906 full-time faculty positions, 2,124 staff members and an annual budget of about $450 million.

Bjorkman touts the school's advancements in pharmacology, genetics, cancer research, artificial organs and organ transplantation.

Stevens will never forget the day of his first kidney transplant. Nervous at first, he operated for 4 1/2 hours on a Moroni rancher whom he describes as a cowboy and rather uncooperative patient.

"He was in kidney failure and near death," Stevens said. "He had acute abdominal pain."

Stevens was providing emergency care at Salt Lake County Hospital (where the county government complex now stands) when, fortunately for the rancher, another man came in with severe head injuries from an auto accident. His family gave permission for doctors to use his organs.

"When I called the nephrologist and told him what I wanted to do, he said something like, 'You're crazy,' " Stevens said. "I called the chief of surgery, and he elbowed in to help out."

The rancher lived for 35 more years.

Stevens, who chalked up more than 1,000 transplants during his career, said the surgeries "became increasingly manageable and routine" with the advent of new medicines that protected against organ rejection.

Organ transplantation has advanced in another way -- cadavers were once used exclusively, instead of living donors. Although there are 280 people on the organ donor waiting list in Utah, the number of people who have signed up to give their organs when they die has increased.

Still, more living donors and volunteers are needed, Stevens said.

Delivering babies, and taking care of them and their mothers, is another specialty that has advanced.

Fred Langeland, a practicing obstetrician/gynecologist in Salt Lake City with Intermountain Health Care, graduated in the class of 1976.

When he started, infections claimed many more lives than now. One of the most prevalent was puerperal fever, a bacterial infection occurring in women after childbirth, usually because of unsanitary conditions. Also called childbed fever, it is now uncommon and treated with antibiotics.

The care for premature babies also has improved by leaps.

"Our specialty has changed dramatically," Langeland said. "There were no epidurals then. Now 85 percent of patients have epidurals."

Although there are many prestigious physicians who attended the school, one of the highest accolades was the appointment of 1969 graduate John Nelson as current president of the American Medical Association. Nelson is a Salt Lake City obstetrician/ gynecologist.

Nelson, who will attend and speak at the celebrations, said experts have commended the school since its inception. He recalled a visit in 1909 by Abraham Flexner, who wrote a well-received report on medical education in the United States.

"He gave the school high marks," Nelson said. "He said the school had a very good spirit. It is still a very well-thought-of school around the country."

chamilton@sltrib.com

Schedule of events Thursday:

* Annual Alumni Awards Banquet, 6 p.m. at the Downtown Marriott Hotel, 75 S. West Temple, Salt Lake City.

Friday:

* The Annual Alumni Golf Open, noon, Eaglewood Golf Course, 1110 E. Eaglewood Drive in North Salt Lake.

Saturday:

* Pioneers and Progress of Medicine in Utah Conference, 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, 2000 Circle of Hope in Salt Lake City.