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It is only fitting to summarize, for such an occasion, the accomplishments and
contributions with which Dr. Wilson has been associated that so richly deserve
the honor being bestowed on her. She is, first of all, Australian born, one who
first saw the light of day in (suitably enough) October 1916, at Broken Hill,
New South Wales, Australia. After graduation from the University of Sydney
Medical School in 1939, Dr. Wilson started her clinical training at the Balmain
Hospital in suburban Sydney . It was there she also started training in
anesthesia. Her first teachers included an elderly expert in local anesthesia,
Dr. C. Corlette, and a urologist, Dr. Reginald Bridge. Both were particularly
adept in, and strong proponents of, regional anesthesia; Dr. Wilson, therefore,
getting off to a good start in this area. In 1944, the first anesthesia diploma
course in Australia was started at University of Sydney, a course Dr. Wilson
entered in 1945. Despite widespread ignorance at that time amongst physicians
and laity alike of the importance of anesthesia as a clinical discipline, and
despite the multitude of obstacles in medicine confronting women, Dr. Wilson
persisted in her dedication to anesthesia and her growing family. She not only
became a member of the Australian Society of Anaesthetists, but also became the
first woman to gain an Australian Diploma in anesthesia. When, after serving
for 12 yr at two suburban hospitals, she was denied promotion because she was a
woman, she transferred, in 1956, to Sydney Hospital and to St. George Hospital
. There, she served as Honorary Anaesthetist from 1956 to 1968, and there she
continues to serve as Honorary Consultant Anesthetist.
It was in 1961 that Dr. Wilson started her study of the history of anesthesia
by probing deeply into the fascinating story about how the news of anesthesia
got to Australia in 1847. This led her, pari passu, to become an authority in
Australian maritime history. She also found, during her review of early
Australian medical journals, the first of which appeared in 1846, that the word
anesthesia never appeared in any of the early indexes of medical literature.
This she compensated for by reading, page by page, every early Australian
medical journal, which led to her creation of her own index, later published,
of all citations in all those medical journals dealing with anesthesia and
anything related to it. The result of all these studies was that she developed
a unique wealth of information and a keen insight into the development of
anesthesia in the context of much of the rest of the practice of medicine at
that time. Eventually and inevitably, of course, she became so involved in the
history of anesthesia as to retire from clinical practice. She has presented 42
invited lectures, has published 43 articles on the history of anesthesia (a
sample of which being those cited below
[1-4] **), and, for many years, provided a striking visual
history of anesthesia in the form of a series of pictures of equipment, people,
and places appearing on the outside front cover of the Australian anesthesia
journal Anaesthesia and Intensive Care. Now, we have the culmination of all her
studies and all her work throughout the years with publication of the first
volume of her magnum opus, the 690-page One Grand Chain, A History of
Anaesthesia in Australia , 1846-1962,
[5] with the second volume due in 1997. One is hard pressed to
find elsewhere such complete, such clearly expressed, and such well organized
accounts of the introduction and development of anesthesia within a single
country. Even more hard pressed is one to find a description such as that
provided by Dr. Wilson of the relation between the development of anesthesia in
Australia and the concurrent medical, scientific, social, political, economic,
and maritime events and changes taking place during the same 150-yr span.
Anesthesia never developed all by itself in a vacuum. Its development was and
is ultimately governed by the society in which it exists. One Grand Chain shows
this beautifully. This is the way the grand sweep of the history of
medicine--or anesthesia--should be viewed. Not only that, however. Dr. Wilson,
in being so thorough, so meticulous, and so complete in reporting all of the
Australian anesthesia history, means that future anesthesia historian scholars
need not spend tedious hours searching through past literature. All they need
is Dr. Wilson's book as a starting point. It's all there.
In her career, Dr. Wilson has been afforded many richly deserved honors and has
occupied many important positions in anesthesia and related organizations.
These include a Doctorate of Medicine postgraduate degree (the equivalent of a
Ph.D. in the United States) awarded by the University of Sydney in 1995 for her
thesis on the history of the Australian Society of Anaesthetists 1934-1984 and
her Bibliography of References to Anesthesia and Related Subjects in
Australasian Medical Publications 1846-1962. Her M.D. was the first
postgraduate Doctorate of Medicine degree awarded in Australia for medical
history. She was a Founding Member of the Faculty of Anaesthetists of The Royal
Australasian College of Surgeons (MFARACS) in 1952, and became a Fellow of the
Faculty of Anaesthetists, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FFARACS) in
1956 and a Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists
(FANZ-CA) in 1992.
Dr. Wilson also served as Secretary of the Australian Society of Anaesthetists
(1954-56), as a member of the Executive Committee of the Australian Society of
Anaesthetists (1951-56), as Honorary Historian of the Faculty of Anaesthetists,
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (1966-92), and as Honorary Historian and
then the Historian Emeritus of the Australian and New Zealand College of
Anaesthetists. As if all this were not enough, Dr. Wilson served as
Postgraduate Lecturer in the history of anaesthesia in the Nuffield Department
of Anaesthetics of the University of Sydney from 1962 to 1982.
Dr. Wilson's career reflects the thoroughness, the scholarship, the
meticulousness, and the dedication of time and effort needed to produce
definitive studies of the history of anesthesia. She provides us with an
example to which we, everywhere, can aspire. We are thankful for the
environment in which she worked, an environment with facilities and outlook
permitting and even facilitating the development of such scholarly talent. We
thank her for her contributions to our specialty in historical fact, as well as
for the intellectual and academic example she has set.
Nicholas M. Greene, M.D., F.R.C.A., Professor Emeritus of Anesthesiology, Yale
University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06520.
* c/o Laureate of the History of Anesthesia Committee, Wood Library-Museum of
Anesthesiology, 520 N. Northwest Highway, Park Ridge, Illinois 60068-2573.
** Wilson GCM: How the good news of anaesthesia was carried across the world.
Modern Medicine 1990; May:98-109.
*** Available from Wood Library-Museum (see earlier).
REFERENCES
1. Wilson GCM: The tyrant overcome: A review of the history of anaesthesia in
Australia . Anaesth Intensive Care 1972; 1:9-26.
[Medline Link]
[Context Link]
2. Wilson G: Faculty of Anaesthetists, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons:
Foundation and progress. Med J Aust 1977; 1:738-42.
[Medline Link]
[Context Link]
3. Wilson G: Janet Lindsay Greig: A pioneer. Anaesth Intensive Care 1985;
13:420-8.
[Medline Link]
[Context Link]
4. Wilson G: Benjamin Archer Kent: A South Australian pioneer. Anaesth
Intensive Care 1987; 15:451-8.
[Medline Link]
[Context Link]
5. Wilson GMM: One Grand Chain, The History of Anaesthesia in Australia ,
1846-1962, Vol. 1. Melbourne, Australia, The Australian and New Zealand College
of Anaesthetists, 1996***.
[Context Link]
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