ANZCA Bulletin June 2012 - final.pdf - Australian and New Zealand ...

The early developmentof anaesthesia practicein QueenslandThis is the fifth articlein a series about thefoundation Fellowsof the Faculty ofAnaesthetists, RoyalAustralasian Collegeof Surgeons. ProfessorTess Cramond takes upthe story as it unfoldedin Queensland 1 .The first practitioner with a higher degreein anaesthetics to practice in Brisbanewas Dr “Doggie” David Aubrey Davis, MBChM (Syd) 1923, Diploma in Anaesthetics(DA), Royal Colleges of Physiciansand Surgeons (RCP&S) 1939. There is arecord of his having an appointment atthe Brisbane Hospital as an HonoraryPhysician (1932-38).Dr Horace Johnson completedphysician training in Edinburgh as wellas special training in anaesthetics andis also recognised as one of the founderpractitioners in Queensland. He workedas honorary anaesthetist to the MaterChildren’s Hospital in Brisbane from 1935until the wartime period. As his residentin 1952, my interest in anaesthetics wasnurtured by him. When Dr Johnsonvolunteered for the Australian ImperialForce (AIF), his anaesthetic practicewas taken over by Dr Vera Madden(married name Watson) MBBS (Melb)1935, who provided yeoman service toan overworked surgical community.She was the first full-time appointmentin anaesthetics at Brisbane Hospital(1938-41). She went into private practicewhen Dr Horace Johnson volunteered forthe AIF, remaining in practice until herhusband, Dr Donald Watson (orthopaedicsurgeon), returned from active servicein 1946.Dr Madden was followed (1941-45) byDr Agnes Coates Earl, MBBS (Syd) 1939and, when she resigned, from 1945-49by Dr Ray Robinson, MBBS (Qld) 1943,who obtained the two-part DA (Syd)1951. Dr Robinson was to play a pivotalrole not only as one of the “QueenslandGirls”, but also in the development ofpaediatric anaesthesia at the Hospitalfor Sick Children and in thoracicanaesthesia at the Brisbane Hospitaland later at the Princess AlexandraHospital. She anaesthetised the firstneonate to have surgery for repair ofa tracheo-oesophageal fistula by DrMorgan Windsor, and it was a memorableexperience for me to have been theanaesthetic registrar helping her thatnight in 1954.Dr Robinson was joined in 1947-49by Dr Joan Dunn, MBBS (Qld) 1944.She completed her training in Oxford,obtaining the two-part DA,RCP&S(1951) – the first Queensland graduate toobtain a higher degree in anaesthetics.She was appointed the first anaestheticssupervisor (later called director), at theBrisbane Hospital (1951-53). A superb,quietly efficient administrator, she hadthe unenviable task of providing clinicalcare, supervising and training juniorstaff and organising a new department.There was limited finance, facilities wereprimitive and the administration lessthan supportive. For Dr Dunn, there “wereno problems, only solutions”. There were20 operating theatres in eight areas of thethree hospitals – the Brisbane Hospital,the Women’s and the Hospital forSick Children.Another woman whose re-entry tomedicine after 21 years was to havea marked impact on the future ofanaesthetics in Queensland was DrIsabel McLelland, MB ChM (Syd) 1918.She was almost 50 before she retrainedin medicine to give anaesthetics forher husband, gynaecologist Dr HughMcLelland. Mrs McLelland, as shewas always known, established thepartnership which was later knownas “The Queensland Girls”, interstateand overseas. She did much to fosterthe role of the specialist anaesthetist56 ANZCA Bulletin June 2012