2004-2005

News Release

REF NO.: 104

SUBJECT: Inaugural lecture in the Medical Humanities

DATE: November 24, 2004

The inaugural Dr. Nigel Rusted Lectureship in the Humanities will take place Tuesday Nov. 30 from 12-1 p.m. in the main auditorium of Memorial University’s Faculty of Medicine, Health Sciences Centre. The speaker is Dr. Jock Murray, past dean of Medicine at Dalhousie University. He will speak on Illness in National leaders: A troubling issue in an unstable world. Free admission with free parking available in Lot 9, off Clinch Avenue.

Over the centuries and often in our times, there are leaders who become incapacitated for brief or prolonged periods and rarely do they give up power. A phenomenon of the “captive king” usually prevails when the leader is kept propped up, the illness hidden and those around the leader run the country. Examples from many countries will be discussed. Dr. Murray was the only non-American on a Working Group on Incapacity in U.S. Presidents, which presented its report to former United States president Bill Clinton, and he will discuss the recommendations that suggest how the U.S., which has often had the problem, should manage this situation.

This lectureship was established in honour of Dr. Nigel Rusted. Born in Salvage, Newfoundland, in 1907, Nigel Rusted graduated from Memorial College in 1927 and obtained a bachelor of Science degree in 1929 and an MD from Dalhousie University in 1933. Dr. Rusted has had a long and varied medical career. He worked as a health officer on the S.S. Kyle traveling coastal Labrador, was a resident house surgeon at the St. John's General Hospitaland spent a year in 1935 treating patients along the southwest coast of Newfoundland aboard the MV Lady Anderson. He also served as chief of surgical service at the St. John's General Hospital from 1954-1968. He has been a consulting surgeon for the General Hospital, the Janeway Child Health Centre and St. Clare's Hospital. In 1968 he was appointed clinical professor of surgery at Memorial University of Newfoundland and retired in 1987.

Dr. Rusted received an honorary D.Sc. from Memorial University in 1973. He has a keen interest in medical history and has an extensive collection of material, photographs and manuscripts. He was awarded the first William B. Spaulding Certificate of Merit from Associated Medical Services for his contributions to the history of Medicine. He is a loyal supporter of Memorial University, and is responsible for donations leading to the establishment (2002) of the Dr. Nigel Rusted Trust to promote the study of the humanities in health through invited lectureships and scholarly work.

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