PROGRESS OF SURGERY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20842, 8 April 1931, Page 9

PROGRESS OF SURGERY.

CONGRESS IN SYDNEY. AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND. In his presidential address at the an-, nual congress in Sydney of the College o:l: Surgeons of Australasia, Sir Henry Newland (Adelaide) said that the King approved of the prefix "Royal" to the title of the college, and in future the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons would, he felt, proclaim that the surgeons , of Australia and New. Zealand would cherish and maintain British traditions and uphold the ideals of the parent college of England. The college had also--been honoured by the King by a grant of arms through the College of Heralds, and as a mark of special favour, supporters of the arms had been granted. A further distinction was the projected gift of a mace, which was to be the gift of the president and members of the coun- ; cil of the Royal College of' Surgeons of England. It had also been announced that the president, Lord Moynihan, hoped to present the inace in person at the next annual meeting of the college in 1932.

Another striking activity of the college arose out of the suggestion that the primary examination for the F.R.C.S. diploma of the English College should be conducted here by special examiners sent out for the purpose by the English College, for the benefit of Commonwealth and Dominion students and practitioners. "During the past year," said Sir Henry, "the college has achieved a corporate existence, by incorporation under the Companies Act of the State of Victoria. This enables the college to hold property, to receive bequests, and confers many other advantages. It is felt, however, that this incorporation should be replaced by incorporation under Royal charter, as the college is an institution which embraces two great Dominions of the Empire. An Imperial charter will'add to the dignity and authority-of the college, and will permit registration of its diploma. Now that the college has a corporate existence, the way has been' opened for the acquisition of land on which to erect a permanent headquarters, and Fellows will be asked to decide upon a site for s* building to house the administrative offices of the college, and a museum and library. "The two most important duties of the college are the training of surgeons and the promotion of research in surgery.% . . In order to become a good surgeon, some years must be spent as an assistant, and it is believed-that this can be arranged at the hospitals without interfering with the training of future general practitioners. The college demands a period of five years' training, after graduation from applicants for Fellowship, and, at the end of this period, a board of censors in each State and in the Dominion will personally satisfy itself regarding the surgical judgment and ability of each candidate. "The other important function of the crfiege is the promotion of surgical research; and our work, in this respect, has received a great stimulus from the generous gift of £2500 by Lady Syme and her children in memory of the lata Sir George Syme, our first president; Th» interest from this sum is to be devoted to the foundation of an annual oration and a research scholarship, which will both e named after our late proposed to encourage research in surgical diseases common in Australia; and, in retrard to this, I wish briefly to refer to the registry of hydatid disease, in Australia and New Zealand, which has been begun, during the year, at tha instigation of the vice-president, Sir Louis_ Harnett. and New Zealand Fellows. I appeal to all Fellows to aid in this work, for the knowledge gained by an analysis of these cases will be ?f help-.in advancing the treatment of this disease.