Hunterian Festival, I978 John's work on the development of collateral circulation in the deer's antler following blockage of the main artery he later applied in the treatment of human arterial disease. Indeed, his operation for aneurysm was a revollutionary concept. One of his patients survived for 50 years after such an operation in I 787-indeed his arterial specimen is still in the Hunterian Museum. As if all this was
5
not enough John Hunter also wrote a geological treatise which alone would have made him famous. After John Hunter's death his museum was purchased by Parliament and entrusted to this Royal College. Following burial in the crypt of St Martin-in-the-Fields in 1793 he was reinterred in Westminster Abbey in February 1859.
Hunter and the Royal College of Surgeons of England The Royal College of Surgeons is the custodian of more than a national museum, the Hunterian Mluseum, it is the custodian of a great humanitarian and educational concept-the Hunter ethic and Hunter tradition. It was John Hunter who realised that those who wanted to help the ill by using their hands required more than a simple apprenticeship in hospital. They needed courses of instructioln and a scheme of training to give a background of learning to the day-to-day work. Hunter also knew that true learning is only possible against a background of research. Practising what he preached he, in the 178os, started up hiis own medical school in Leicester Square, a school which contained lecture theatres, practical classrooms, research rooms, and residential facilities for pupils. It was a school which was to become the blueprint for the medical schools of England and the United States through the ideas propagated by his nearly iOOO pupils to whom he had handed the torch of professional training. Of his American pupils, Philip Syng Physic, William Shippen, and John Morgan were the first to promote medical education in America. Today, some twvo hundred years later, the Royal College of Surgeons continues this work -but now with postgraduates who wish to become surgeons and surgical specialists. The work of the College includes the inspection of hospitals and specialist training posts, the conduct of higher specialist examinations both at home and overseas, the organisation and maintenance of important research departmenits and manifold other activities which make for safety and standards in surgery in
their broadest sense. The examination side of this work is self-financing, but the other activities are ensured only by the backing of the Fellows and of many generous donors, both individuals and business houses. The maintenance and development of this work, especially in times of inflation, is dependent on the goodwill and support of the general public.
Hunter would, we think, approve of the schemes for training which this College organises nationwide, including courses in advanced anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology and biochemistry, which can be applied to everyday surgical practice for the benefit and safety of the patient. So, too, would he praise the background of research that takes place in the scientific departments unique to the College. Therefore the Royal College oif Surgeons is a worthy custodian of the Hunterian tradition the making of high-grade surgeons and doctors, and also, through its Faculties, of high-grade dental surgeons and anaesthetists. When it comes to the making of a surgeon it is not just a matter of practising operations. So much has to go into learning what to do and when to do it in the alleviation of suffering, the cure of disease, and the repair of the injured. The art of surgery needs to be constantly illuminated by learning, through science, and this requires a strong and lasting backing of teacher surgeons and medical scientific research. This is indeed the College precept-the cultivation of the science as well as the art of surgery-and its motto is so
6
Hunterian Festival, I978
appropriate-'The work which benefits all mankind'. This great task of making surgeons-highgrade surgeons working all their lives to high standards cannoit be inspired and sustained by the State. Neither can this work be sustained without the confidence and support of the public; and withotut the financial support, no matter how small, that comes from those who realise that this great College which has served the needs of the nation in the past must continue to do so in the future.
The brochure ends with a salutary message to the public: 'The Royal College of Surgeons of England deserves your most generous support if only for the fact that the surgeon you help train today may be operating upon you tomorrow. TFhe same goes for your family, your friends and neighbours. The same goes for millions the world over who are cared for by surgeons, anaesthetists and dentists who have become Fellows of the College under training schemes organised here.'
JOHN HUNTER 1728-1793 250th ANNIVERSARY
5
not enough John Hunter also wrote a geological treatise which alone would have made him famous. After John Hunter's death his museum was purchased by Parliament and entrusted to this Royal College. Following burial in the crypt of St Martin-in-the-Fields in 1793 he was reinterred in Westminster Abbey in February 1859.
Hunter and the Royal College of Surgeons of England The Royal College of Surgeons is the custodian of more than a national museum, the Hunterian Mluseum, it is the custodian of a great humanitarian and educational concept-the Hunter ethic and Hunter tradition. It was John Hunter who realised that those who wanted to help the ill by using their hands required more than a simple apprenticeship in hospital. They needed courses of instructioln and a scheme of training to give a background of learning to the day-to-day work. Hunter also knew that true learning is only possible against a background of research. Practising what he preached he, in the 178os, started up hiis own medical school in Leicester Square, a school which contained lecture theatres, practical classrooms, research rooms, and residential facilities for pupils. It was a school which was to become the blueprint for the medical schools of England and the United States through the ideas propagated by his nearly iOOO pupils to whom he had handed the torch of professional training. Of his American pupils, Philip Syng Physic, William Shippen, and John Morgan were the first to promote medical education in America. Today, some twvo hundred years later, the Royal College of Surgeons continues this work -but now with postgraduates who wish to become surgeons and surgical specialists. The work of the College includes the inspection of hospitals and specialist training posts, the conduct of higher specialist examinations both at home and overseas, the organisation and maintenance of important research departmenits and manifold other activities which make for safety and standards in surgery in
their broadest sense. The examination side of this work is self-financing, but the other activities are ensured only by the backing of the Fellows and of many generous donors, both individuals and business houses. The maintenance and development of this work, especially in times of inflation, is dependent on the goodwill and support of the general public.
Hunter would, we think, approve of the schemes for training which this College organises nationwide, including courses in advanced anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology and biochemistry, which can be applied to everyday surgical practice for the benefit and safety of the patient. So, too, would he praise the background of research that takes place in the scientific departments unique to the College. Therefore the Royal College oif Surgeons is a worthy custodian of the Hunterian tradition the making of high-grade surgeons and doctors, and also, through its Faculties, of high-grade dental surgeons and anaesthetists. When it comes to the making of a surgeon it is not just a matter of practising operations. So much has to go into learning what to do and when to do it in the alleviation of suffering, the cure of disease, and the repair of the injured. The art of surgery needs to be constantly illuminated by learning, through science, and this requires a strong and lasting backing of teacher surgeons and medical scientific research. This is indeed the College precept-the cultivation of the science as well as the art of surgery-and its motto is so
6
Hunterian Festival, I978
appropriate-'The work which benefits all mankind'. This great task of making surgeons-highgrade surgeons working all their lives to high standards cannoit be inspired and sustained by the State. Neither can this work be sustained without the confidence and support of the public; and withotut the financial support, no matter how small, that comes from those who realise that this great College which has served the needs of the nation in the past must continue to do so in the future.
The brochure ends with a salutary message to the public: 'The Royal College of Surgeons of England deserves your most generous support if only for the fact that the surgeon you help train today may be operating upon you tomorrow. TFhe same goes for your family, your friends and neighbours. The same goes for millions the world over who are cared for by surgeons, anaesthetists and dentists who have become Fellows of the College under training schemes organised here.'
JOHN HUNTER 1728-1793 250th ANNIVERSARY
