Dr.W. H. [Bill] Nield was born in Lautoka, Fiji, in 1909, where his father worked for a sugar company He came back to Australia for schooling, studied Medicine at the University of Sydney and graduated with first class honours in 1935. He was subsequently a resident at Royal Prince Alfred hospital, and then moved to Newcastle working under Dr. Ken Starr and the legendary Dr. Sam Gardner.
He provides many details previously unknown about the brilliance of Ken Starr who topped his year in every subject in every year of the medical course - a feat never ever repeated. Bill Nield was for a time Medical Superintendent at the RNH notably during WW2, when he trained many young doctors before they went into the armed services. Post war, he moved into private practice, and was a surgical consultant at the Mater, and RNH hospitals - and private hospitals- for more than 40 years.
He was blessed with a high intelligence and meticulous technique, was a great teacher and had a warm personality which endeared him to his patients-he was one of the most respected surgeons in the country and was referred patients from all over northern NSW.
He operated in an era when the general surgeon was expected to be able to handle competently a wide range of surgical conditions and he had vast experience in virtually all areas of general surgery He was one of the giants of the surgical world in the post war era and his incisive comments on the world of medicine are fascinating.
This interview was recorded in 1991.
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