The Handless Surgeon (D.J. DU PLESSIS Lecture) (Treating Traumatic Shock) (Report‪)‬

'I would like to see the day when somebody would be appointed surgeon somewhere who had no hands, for the operative part is the least of the work.' (Harvey Cushing, letter to Dr Henry Christian, November 1911) Cushing was a man of many talents. He was an accomplished artist, illustrating many of his own operations, and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1926 for his biography of Sir William Osler, his friend and mentor. His outstanding contributions to the field of neurosurgery earned him the reputation as the father of that surgical discipline. Osler's aphorism, 'The good physician treats the disease, the great physician treats the patient, undoubtedly influenced his practice. Cushing emphasised the importance of pre- and postoperative care and this, in combination with his meticulous surgical technique, reduced the mortality for intracranial surgery from over 50% to less than 10%.