TRAINING N.Z. SURGEONS

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 339, 21 January 1937, Page 6

TRAINING N.Z. SURGEONS

UNHAPPY POSITION. DOCTOR’S PROTEST Closed Hospital System Would Entail Difficulties Press Association—Copyright. Auckland, Last Night. The Royal Australian College of Surgeons, which is holding its tenth annual scientific meeting at Auckland this week, continued its activities today. In the evening a business meeting was followed by a paper on “surgical apprenticeship,” delivered by Sir Alan Newton, Melbourne. Sir Alan, who is censor in chief of the College of Surgeons and honorary surgeon of the.. Royal Melbourne Hospital, discussed the system of training of surgeons to fellowship of the college.

“In New Zealand, unhappily,” said Sir Alan, “there is a growing tendency to abolish honorary staffs at hospitals. This introduces a grave difficulty. We cannot allow future surgeons to be trained by full-time medical superintendents who undertakes all types of surgical work, for we realise that in these days of specialisation no hospital which does not possess a large staff of surgeons, who are engaged in various departments of surgical work can possibly be efficient. Unhappily it seems probable that our protests against this development will be of no avail, because the great majority of the general public is wholly ignorant of medical work and asks no more than that hospital and a doctor should be available for its needs regardless of the efficiency of the hospital or of the doctor. An illustration of this attitude of mind is that appointments to medical and surgical posts at hospitals in this country are made solely by lay boards whb cannot judge professional ability. This being the case, it appears to me that the college may be compelled, if a closed hospital system becomes' general in this country, to make arrangements to train young New Zealand surgeons in Australia and England.”