The English Patient in Post-colonial Perspective, or Practising Surgery on the Poms

Drawing on interviews with Australasian surgeons who trained in the 1950s and 1960s, this article discusses where, and on whom, they practised the manual skills involved in surgery. In the twentieth century, elite Australasian surgeons emphasized the importance of the science of surgery and the lengthy experience needed to acquire surgical judgement, and these concerns are reflected in the accreditation procedures adopted by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. However, trainee surgeons also had to acquire the manual skills that they needed in the operating theatre. The rhetoric of training emphasized the intellectual skills needed in surgery, but in reality the manual skills remained important, and there was also a fascination with the drama and stress involved in operating. In this era, British and Australasian surgical training were closely linked and many Australasian surgeons gained significant cutting experience in Britain