A. Sti’zvm‘! MacDonald D.F.C., M.D. C..M.

from the spinal cord. If she is living today, she, no doubt, remembers the cruel Doctor of 60 years ago. My next posting was in surgery in the Victoria General Hospital. We not only had to do the histories, but work the next day in the operating room, usually holding retractors and making room for the assistant Resident Surgeon and the scrub nurse. It meant standing for long hours and seeing

1 nothing.

‘ I enjoyed working with Dr. Acker, who used to come over to the Island and work on Polio patients, as well as going to Cape Breton. I got considerable work with the Orthopaedic Surgeons. Prior to my many cases as a Doctor, I happened to be the first intern to serve the famous Dr. Gass after he took over the care of cancer patients, and he expected me to do the work of a Resident. I became the first assistant in minor surgery, and was able to see what was going on in larger cases. Although he was known as rather a tyrant, he always recognized me at the many meetings of the Medical Society in later years. I liked working with all the Surgeons and learned many useful things from them.

My next posting was to the PEI Hospital. There was no Resident and I assisted in a lot of cases, especially with Dr. Seaman and Dr. Laidlaw. Dr. Seaman was a great teacher and taught me many things which were useful to me later. I can still hear him saying ”If you can’t see, how the Hell do you expect me to?” a reminder I still try to follow in assisting. When there was any local surgery, he would do one and let me do the other and say, ”Would this not be easier, if I did this, instead of my assistant on the other side?" He had one of the best bedside manners I ever saw. I only wish I could follow his example. His method of telling a patient he was going to die was worthy of notice.

I found the nurses very cooperative and easy to

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