REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE ANNUAL PRESIDENTIAL DINNER OF THE ULSTER MEDICAL SOCIETY
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE ANNUAL PRESIDENTIAL DINNER OF THE ULSTER MEDICAL SOCIETY THE SIR WILLIAM WHITLA HALL
It is a great joy to be back in Queen’s and a particular pleasure to join you here this evening in the Sir William Whitla Hall for the annual Presidential Dinner of the Ulster Medical Society.
Sir William himself, was, of course, one of the most distinguished Presidents in the Society’s long and venerable history. In his life, he combined the roles of physician, pharmacist, politician, Shakespearian scholar, medical author, and – most fortunately for the Society – generous benefactor. In fact, you could say that he personified one of the chief aims of the Society, that of bridging the ever increasing gulf between the generalist and specialist, and encouraging the new insights and greater understanding that comes from sharing knowledge.
I have read that it was not unknown for Lady Whitla to accompany her husband to occasions such as this, wearing the full regalia of the Salvation Army. I am sure you will be very relieved to hear that although my role as President gives me the title of Commander in Chief of the Irish Defence Forces, the job does not come with a uniform.
I have figured out though that a certain kind of human uniform is clearly required of Presidents of this Society. A certain colourfulness, flamboyance, formidable ability and a breadth of vision link Sir William to you current President, my very dear friend, Robin Harland. For Robin, too, is something of a Renaissance man, and those who know him well will testify to his very broad range of interests, from sports fanatic to intrepid traveller. Having served Queen’s University for over thirty years, first as Director of the University Health Service – or put more simply – the man who patched up Martin after yet another scuffle on the sports pitch – and latterly, as a member of the University Senate, Robin is quoted as saying that his previous career in a general practice serving a coal pit village in County Durham, was an apt apprenticeship for his work in the University. There will be plenty of wags no doubt to observe on which of the two environments was the more intellectually challenging and least damaging to health.
Martin and myself count ourselves as fortunate to have shared Robin’s friendship for many years, and we know that he has greatly enjoyed the honour of being President of this Society. We feel very privileged to be here tonight on what is his special night.
With so much discussion in recent times of the human genome, of cracking the DNA code I, though a mere lawyer, am however vaguely, conscious of the great adventures in human health and well-being that medicine has both brought us through and is set to take us on.
In five years time this Society will celebrate the two hundredth anniversary of its forerunner, the Belfast Medical Society. As we buy a selection of palatable throat lozenges across the counter today it is worth reminding ourselves that in those early days the treatment for Presidential sore throats would be enough to leave that office vacant in perpetuity. George Washington who was tended to by the best medical experts of the time, had a blistering poultice applied to his neck; was forced to gargle a mixture of vinegar and molasses, and bled of five pints of blood. Among his last words were ‘I thank you for your attentions, but I pray you to take no more trouble about me’. I have no record of the bill for those attentions but I have a suspicion that it would bear a mathematical relationship to the pain inflicted and the blood extracted.
These days, the treatment is more subtle, but the old problem of deciding when a cure is worse than the disease, has not gone away. As medical care has advanced into the realms of both the mind-boggling and the miraculous, so too has there been an exponential increase in the range of ethical dilemmas, pressures and profoundly difficult decisions that doctors face. It used to be said that physicians were the most fortunate of men: the world praised their success and the earth buried their mistakes. Those days are long gone as in-your-face accountability reaches its tentacles behind the professional barricades and at times blindness of history’s making. It is sobering to reflect as we sit on the cusp of medicine’s most remarkable journey yet that public trust in the medical profession is deeply vulnerable, hard-earned and easily lost. The increasing sophistication of medical research and technology favours the specialist who knows more and more about less and less, at the very time that demand for patient-centred holistic care is on the rise. The new culture of accountability has stood on its head the old days of automatic deference. Searching, probing questions are asked. The margins of risk, the soaring expectations, the demanding market place, make medicine no place for the fainthearted. The particular circumstances of Northern Ireland these past three decades have made phenomenal demands of the medical profession such that your society and its many heroic members, still rightly enjoy a high level of public confidence and respect but that world too is changing as peace sets in, grows its roots deeply into the soil and blossoms above ground in a much healthier, much happier society.
It is hard to know which adventure is the most exciting, the emerging peace or the emerging human genome project. Both will dramatically transform life in Northern Ireland. Political leaders will guide people through the uncharted waters of the peace, you will guide them through the uncharted waters of medicine’s new frontiers. We expect a lot of our medical profession and it is right that we should. But if it is important in this age of technology for the doctor to always remember the human person at the centre of care, it is equally important that we, too, remember the humanity of the doctor. That is why this Society, with its reach across three centuries, is more important than ever in today’s world. Not only does the series of lectures, networks and friendships, enable a cross-fertilisation of knowledge across different disciplines and specialities, permeating the barriers which so easily conceal one piece of crucial information or wisdom from its match, its destiny elsewhere, but gatherings such as this evening serve an equally important social function. From such informal occasions come the things we all need humanly, encouragement, solidarity, validation a shared memory or two. These things will help I hope to make the adventure ahead personally fulfilling and professionally fulfilling to each one of you. I wish you great success as you help to build a new generation medical service capable of awesome things and a medical service to be proud of.
I wish the Society, and all of you, many more years of success, and it is now my great pleasure to propose a Toast:
To the Ulster Medical Society.