COLONIAL DOCTORS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 21, 25 January 1934, Page 9

COLONIAL DOCTORS.

TRAINING IN ENGLAND. MOST RETURN TO DOMINION. "Colonials in general, and particularly New Zealanders, are well received in England," stated Dr. Murray Haycock to a "Taranaki Herald" reporter. Dr. Haycock, who is an old boy of the New Plymouth Boys' High School, is spending a holiday in New Plymouth before returning to England at the end of this month. New Zealand post-graduate medical students found little difficulty in obtaining positions in hospitals, continued Dr. Haycock. Indeed, in some hospitals a sort of tradition of New Zealanders following in one another's footsteps had grown up. Two London institutions where this obtained were the West London Hospital and the Seamen's Hospital. With other colonials there was the same tradition, so that, for instance, some hospitals were regarded as "New Zealand" and others ias "Australian." These hospital positions were taken for the practical experience rather than for a living. The remuneration was not large, and the better the hospital, the less the pay. The advantage of the system was that young men who had just graduated could watch England's best surgeons and doctors at work. The percentage of New Zealand students who took up practices in England after graduation and the completion of hospital work was very small, Dr. Haycock stated. They generally returned to New Zealand. As a rule New Zealanders could not get used to the huge crowds, from whom it was impossible to get away. The average English-1 man would feel lost if he were not in a crowd. For instance, a day at Blackpool, where thousands jostled on the beaches and piers, was considered a picnic by them, and the beautiful Lake district, which held immediate appeal for colonials was rarely other than deserted. That was where the colonial differed from the English city-dweller. The colonial, although he was warmly; received in England, did not lose his identity. There was a tendency for men of the same country to live in "colonies." It was hard to put a finger on the difference between the colonial and the Englishman, concluded Dr. Haycock, but still., there existed a definite difference of ideas and ideals.