Lewis Linn McArthur.

  • Mayo, William James, 1861-1939.
Date:
1935
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Lewis Linn McArthur. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Reprint from SURGERY, GYNECOLOGY AND OBSTETRICS April, lewis linn McArthur * W. J. MAYO, M.D., F.A.C.S., Rochester, Minnesota IN the death of Dr. Lewis Linn McArthur the medical profession lost one of its most distinguished members and the surgical profession one of its leaders. Dr. McArthur possessed qualities of mind and heart that are not often to be found in the same degree in one person, and he had in unusual measure the con¬ fidence and respect of all who were associated with him and the love and appre¬ ciation of his friends. As a surgeon he never grew old, but was interested and interesting to the end. During the many years I knew Dr. McArthur, I was impressed with his sur¬ gical acumen and his ability to adapt to the individual patient the surgical pro¬ cedures to be carried out. He had a rare understanding of surgical pathology, and what might be called a flexibility of operative technic. I have seen him in the middle of an operation, on recognizing that the procedure he had planned was not best adapted to the case, change from one method to another, with complete success. He insisted that the tissues at operation be handled with extreme gentle¬ ness, and that meticulous care be exercised in all coaptations. But more than technical skill, he had a humane understanding of the emotional states from which the patient suffered. He appreciated the natural desire of the patient not only to feel well but to look well, and he wanted to be of aid, in building up not only his physical but his mental condition. In his work he was a marked individualist. He took the most intense personal interest in each case, always visiting his surgical patients at least twice daily. It would appear sometimes that the modern surgeon thinks of surgery only from the standpoint of the operation, the after-care of the patient, and the physical results. He carries out with the most scrupulous attention the necessary technical procedures, but not always does he possess that kindly spirit of helpful¬ ness which is essential to carry the patient through an operation, to instill the confidence and courage which so often bring the patient safely through a crisis he might not otherwise withstand. Perhaps this characteristic of spiritual understanding comes to those who in their earlier years were successful general practitioners, that is, practicing not only surgery but medicine as related to surgery. Perhaps the ability not only to acquire the confidence of the patient, but to deserve it, to see what the patient desires and