PHYSICIAN

Virginia Apgar

1909 - 1974

Photo of Virginia Apgar

Icon of person Virginia Apgar

Virginia Apgar (June 7, 1909 – August 7, 1974) was an American physician, obstetrical anesthesiologist and medical researcher, best known as the inventor of the Apgar score, a way to quickly assess the health of a newborn child immediately after birth in order to combat infant mortality. In 1952, she developed the 10-point Apgar score to assist physicians and nurses in assessing the status of newborns. Given at one minute and five minutes after birth, the Apgar test measures a child's breathing, skin color, reflexes, motion, and heart rate. A friend said, "She probably did more than any other physician to bring the problem of birth defects out of back rooms." She was a leader in the fields of anesthesiology and teratology, and introduced obstetrical considerations to the established field of neonatology. Read more on Wikipedia

Her biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Virginia Apgar is the 164th most popular physician (down from 41st in 2019), the 1,405th most popular biography from United States (down from 374th in 2019) and the 25th most popular American Physician.

Virginia Apgar was a doctor who developed the Apgar score, a scale for measuring the health of newborns. The Apgar score is used to assess the baby's health in the first few minutes after birth.

Memorability Metrics

Loading...

Page views of Virginia Apgar by language

Loading...

Among PHYSICIANS

Among physicians, Virginia Apgar ranks 164 out of 726Before her are Georgios Papanikolaou, Jonas Salk, Herta Oberheuser, Agnodice, Jean Marc Gaspard Itard, and Peter Agre. After her are Magnus Hirschfeld, E. Donnall Thomas, Sushruta, Carl Wernicke, Albert of Riga, and Severo Ochoa.

Most Popular Physicians in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1909, Virginia Apgar ranks 42Before her are Miep Gies, Juan Vicente Pérez, Teiichi Matsumaru, John Fante, Leo Fender, and Alain Poher. After her are Tokizo Ichihashi, Jessica Tandy, Hélder Câmara, Yiannis Ritsos, László Rajk, and Vicente Feola. Among people deceased in 1974, Virginia Apgar ranks 37Before her are Zalman Shazar, Louis Kahn, Fritz Zwicky, Carl Spaatz, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Walter Brennan. After her are Cass Elliot, Walter Lippmann, Marcel Pagnol, Hilda Gadea, Farid al-Atrash, and Princess Irene, Duchess of Aosta.

Others Born in 1909

Go to all Rankings

Others Deceased in 1974

Go to all Rankings

In United States

Among people born in United States, Virginia Apgar ranks 1,405 out of 20,380Before her are Robert Walker (1918), John Heard (1946), Tom Holland (1943), John Grisham (1955), Michelle Phillips (1944), and Howard H. Aiken (1900). After her are Tex Watson (1945), Sam Elliott (1944), Meat Loaf (1947), Kevin Hart (1979), Don Norman (1935), and Alicia Keys (1981).

Among PHYSICIANS In United States

Among physicians born in United States, Virginia Apgar ranks 25Before her are George H. Hitchings (1905), William Kaelin Jr. (1957), Ferid Murad (1936), Charles Best (1899), Jonas Salk (1914), and Peter Agre (1949). After her are E. Donnall Thomas (1920), Michael Stuart Brown (1941), Richard Axel (1946), Randy Schekman (1948), Robert Lefkowitz (1943), and Patch Adams (1945).