Case Report |
Why I became an occupational physician ...
I was lucky enough to be a student at The London Hospital when Donald Hunter was teaching and Director of the Department for Research in Industrial Medicine at ‘The London’. He was inspiring, hyperactive and nobody slept in his lectures! He always started his lectures with the precise words he had ended the last. He was then putting the finishing touches to the first edition of his masterpiece The Diseases of Occupations. This must be the finest historical account of occupational medicine. His department included many who were, or became, distinguished occupational physicians. Among them were Ian McLaughlin, John Bonnell, Lesley Bidstrup and George Kazantzis.
During my Naval National Service, I tried to deal with the effects of excessive noise in the engine room of a frigate, but with little success. I was then appointed to the Occupational Health Department of Devonport Dockyard. While there I sat the Diploma in Industrial Medicine and wrote answers on the findings I had made on medical examinations on asbestos workers and others in the dockyard. These answers were picked up at the oral exam by Richard Schilling who wrote to the Medical Director of the Royal Navy advising that a study of the extent of the problem should be undertaken. This resulted in my appointment as Director of the study on behalf of the Ministry of Defence and the Medical Research Council (MRC). Richard Schilling played a big supervisory role together with John Gilson and his colleagues, John Cotes, Peter Oldham and Vernon Timbrell at the MRC Pneumoconiosis Unit Penarth. The results were published as my MD thesis and Schilling and Gilson recommended that the study be replicated in Portsmouth, Chatham and Rosyth Dockyards. This involved another 6 years work and the total study population was 40 000 with 84% compliance. The results of the studies resulted in widespread changes in working practices for all dockyards, many of which were introduced during the Devonport study.
At this stage, I wanted a change and, again, Richard Schilling advised me to accept the post of Chief Medical Officer to Rank Hovis McDougall, flour miller, bakers and food manufacturers. This was another challenging job which was very rewarding.
Donald Hunter whetted my appetite for occupational medicine but it was Richard Schilling who really inspired me and guided my career.
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Since receipt of this article, Dr Harries has died. Mrs Harries has kindly given permission for its publication.
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