Dr. Chi-Tsung Su, a plastic surgeon and teacher who helped establish the prominence of the burn center at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, died of cancer Dec. 27 at his Towson home. He was 74.
Born in Taiwan, he earned a medical degree at the National Taiwan University. He moved to Baltimore in 1964 and became a Union Memorial Hospital surgical intern and its chief resident. Among his teachers was Dr. Bowdoin Davis, a plastic surgeon whose father, Dr. John Staige Davis, wrote a 1919 plastic surgery textbook, the first U.S. text in the field. Dr. Su named his son after his teacher.
Dr. Su did additional work at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
He returned to Baltimore in 1971 as a Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine faculty member and was also on the staff of the old Baltimore City Hospitals, now Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. Colleagues said he was among the pioneers at its burn unit, which was supported in part by the Kiwanis Club and the Baltimore City Fire Department.
"He was instrumental in building up the burn unit and putting it on the map," said Liz Jones of Timonium, with whom he worked for 37 years. "His greatest love was taking care of his patients."
Dr. Su was on the staffs of the Greater Baltimore Medical Center, Children's Hospital, Union Memorial and Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was chief of plastic surgery at the old Baltimore City Hospitals from 1971 to 1980. He was also an acting plastic surgeon in chief at Hopkins, director of the Kiwanis Burn Unit at City Hospitals and was co-director of the Hopkins Bayview burn unit.
"C.T. was probably one of the best technical plastic surgeons in his area," said Dr. Paul N. Manson, Johns Hopkins chief of plastic surgery and a former student. "He was known for his careful, deliberate management of tissue. He developed techniques and was a master of injecting local anesthesia."
Medical colleagues said he was well-regarded by his patients and students alike.
"He spoke very little, but he spoke volumes in terms of the surgeries he did," said Dr. William A. Crawley, chief of plastic surgery at GBMC and a Hopkins faculty member. "As students, we watched what he did and how he acted. We learned his honesty and his deep interest in his patients."
Dr. Crawley, who was Dr. Su's student, described him as a "very proud man of great honesty and integrity." He also said that Dr. Su was devoted to his profession and research in the field.
In the days before he died, he directed that a memorial fund be established to assist in plastic surgery research. He was the author of numerous scientific articles.
In the early 1980s, Dr. Su established a private practice and continued to see patients until a few weeks before his death.
"He was a man of infinite patience," said a patient of 30 years, Sharon Crain of Catonsville. "Everything about him reflected his philosophy that the patient came first. He never allowed automated telephone calls. You spoke to a person in his office. When his office was closed, he put his home phone number on his voice mail. And when you called at home, his whole family worked with him."
She said that every patient of his felt he or she was his only patient.
"Dr. Su was not only a superb plastic surgeon, but he gave amazing hope and remarkable strength to his patients and their families," said another patient, Ann Hoffman of Lutherville. "He was extremely humble at the same time. He imparted emotional and physical strength to his patients and their families during times of extreme crisis."
He was also active in Baltimore's Taiwan community through the Formosan Association for Public Affairs.
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Jan. 15 at the Evergreen Carriage House, 4545 N. Charles St.
Survivors include his wife of 44 years, Shirley L. Su; two sons, Wilbur C. Su of Singapore and Bowdoin K. Su of San Francisco; a daughter, Helen C. Su of Rockville; two brothers, Chi-Dong Su and Chi-Hong Su, both of Hsin Chu, Taiwan; four sisters, Shin-Shin Su of Potomac, Chang-Chang Su of California, Ting-Ting Liao of Rockville and Chou-Chou Su of Hsin Chu; and a granddaughter.