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College Roll Bio
Murphy,
Sir
Alexander Paterson
Share
Qualifications
MC (1918) Kt (1954) MB ChM Syd (1916) FRACP (1938) (Foundation) MD Syd (1947) PRACP (1952-54) FRCP (1954) (Hon) DSc Tas (1958) (Hon) MD Qld (1967)
Born
25/10/1892
Died
01/10/1976
Usually called 'Alex', which was his own signature, or 'Pat', (from the Paterson) by his friends, Alexander Paterson Murphy was born in Brisbane in 1892 to an accountant father who had migrated from England. An early medical influence was provided by his father's brother who was knighted for medical work in the London slums. In 1921 he married Esme Park Hobson of Toowoomba. They had three healthy daughters and one son. Their son, unfortunately, had Down's syndrome with associated cardiac defects and only survived twenty-one years. Although Alex rarely spoke of his son, it was always in terms of sorrow and sympathy for the boy and never with any suggestion of paternal frustration, despite his own remarkable career.
The young Alex received his early schooling in Brisbane at Bowen House School and his secondary studies at the Brisbane Boy's Grammar School from 1980 to his senior pass in 1910. He was always fully dedicated to the tasks he had set himself and was also a remarkable 'gamesman' before the concept of gamesmanship ever appeared in the literature. An early example was that he became the champion rifle shot of the school during his time there. His results suggest that he was not an outstanding student at secondary studies. The study of medicine clearly inspired him to more impressive results.
As with all Queensland medical students until 1935 he was required to attend a southern (Sydney) university and he was resident at St Andrew's College from 1911 until he received his MB ChM in 1916. Other Queenslanders in residence at St Andrew's College at that time were 'Nipper' Sutton who became a well-known surgeon in Brisbane, and my father Dr Gilmore Wilson, later a GP in Ipswich. Alex continued his dedication to his task and achieved honours in his first, fourth and final years. After attaining his MB ChM he became RMO at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in 1916 and again after the war in 1919 to 1920 when he was also appointed a registrar for some six months. He volunteered for military service in the First World War in 1917 and saw active service in Flanders in the Army Medical Corps, being awarded a Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in the field, caring for wounded Australian soldiers under fire first, and then attending to the enemy wounded in the open where his orderly was killed and he was wounded. Nonetheless, he continued to work for another twenty-four hours before reporting for relief.
After leaving Sydney he worked in a general practice in Brisbane, where 'Nipper' Sutton carried out most of the surgery, from 1920 to 1928. One of my oldest patients told me that he had informed her that when Ballow Chambers had been completed he was preparing to move in there and become a specialist physician, which indeed he did, and practised there from 1928 until the day he actually died in 1976 as a consultant physician. In addition he had a long association with the Brisbane General Hospital (now the Royal Brisbane Hospital), initially being a junior physician on the visiting staff (in the days when all were truly 'honorary' physicians) from 1920 to 1937, after which he became a senior physician from 1938 to 1957 and a cardiologist from 1953 to 1957. After the Princess Alexandra Hospital was opened in 1956 he became a visiting consultant in both medicine and cardiology there from 1957. In 1962 he retired from these posts but was appointed an honorary consultant thereafter until his death in 1976. He attended many meetings there and very generously gave a large number of his remarkable collection of medical journals to the Hospital library. On the establishment of the medical school in Queensland he was placed in charge of the department of medicine and later became the (part-time) Foundation Professor of Medicine in the University of Queensland. His typical dedication to the quality of his work caused him many arguments with the Hospitals Board and the University, both in trying to reduce the excessive patient workload (average of about eighty patients) so as to improve the quality of teaching, and also to obtain a laboratory which seems never to have appeared in his day. He was, of course, the initial lecturer in the specialty of medicine and was also supposed to demonstrate patients in the wards to students, such demonstrations to be fitted (approximately) into the three hours allotted for a normal ward round, of his usual eighty-odd patients. Despite the difficulties he was meticulous both in presentation and in the information he had on the subjects in both these fields. On one or two occasions, however, he admitted that together with his private practice and the above overloading he often needed to stay up until 2 am to prepare his lectures. This was worth the effort as the lectures he gave were produced with great effect, accuracy in detail in medicine and apposite quotations all produced without using a single note. Both lectures and demonstrations were of didactic type, characteristic of those days, but were very clear and stimulating.
His clinical skills also were superb despite the pressure of numbers. His ward diagnoses were sometimes made by what appeared to be a species of magic - especially in one very anaemic fifteen-year-old boy who had rather dirty feet. Alex rapidly elucidated the fact that this boy often walked about in bare feet and said, 'He has hookworm!'. Tests very soon proved him correct and the boy was readily cured. Alex was also excellent in discussing and elucidating the various cardiac murmurs heard in the ward. He still showed some little pride in his slightly 'surgical' activities which consisted chiefly of his own induction of pneumothorax for treating tuberculosis, and in performing the minor surgical procedures for inserting the limited endocrine preparations of those days. Fortunately he gave these up before he became president of The Royal Australasian College of Physicians as they would certainly not be considered acceptable in a specialist physician today! He also possessed a fantastic memory for the relevant pathology reports in patients and could often quote accurately the white cell count or blood urea in medical discussions concerning particular patients. He later received honorary doctorates in medicine from Queensland and in science from Tasmania. In addition to his teaching at the Brisbane General Hospital he was chairman of the honorary staff for some three years and an occasional member of the advisory board.
He was selected as one of three Queensland physicians to be initial members of the Association of Physicians (which later became the Royal College) at its inception; and he became a foundation fellow of The Royal Australasian College of Physicians in consequence in 1938. He was both a councillor and a censor in its formative years and finally president of the College from 1952 to 1954. In all he served continuously on the College council for twenty years. Indeed it was for his work in this field as well as for his contribution to internal medicine and teaching in Queensland that he received his knighthood from the Queen in 1954. He also became a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London in 1954. His medical interests in other fields caused him to become a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine in 1934 and eventually vice-president of the section of medicine at the Australian Medical Congress in 1936. He was also president of the Australasian Medical Congress in 1950 when he gave a brilliant presidential address. He was on the Queensland council and was later president of both the British Medical Association in 1950 and the later Australian Medical Association in 1969 in Queensland. This must be a very rare combination. His membership of the BMA/AMA extended over sixty years. He became a Fellow of the Australian Medical Association in 1964 and had a long continued interest in postgraduate medical education which began in 1929. He was on the postgraduate medical education committee from 1956 to 1966. He was associated with the Australian Postgraduate Federation in Medicine in its formative days in the forties and served on the council of the Federation for many years, finally being elected its patron in 1967, and remained so until his death. He was also appointed to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee for many years. His later military career, in the Second World War, was as lieutenant-colonel consultant to the 112th Military Hospital (Greenslopes) which lasted from 1939 to 1946.
His general community activities included several directorships. He was on the board of directors of the Brisbane Gas Company from 1942 to 1971 and vice-chairman from 1954 to 1971. He was also on the board of directors of Channel 0 Television. In addition he took a great interest in the National Heart Foundation from its formation and became a director of the Queensland division in 1959 for a number of years. His clubs included the Queensland Club (Brisbane), United Service Club (Brisbane), the Union Club (Sydney) and particularly the Royal Queensland Golf Club of which he was a life member. Indeed, his major sporting activity was golf which he greatly enjoyed but for which he found little time. He was always a popular choice as a thoughtful and scholarly speaker and was invited particularly to deliver three major orations in addition to those speeches customary for president of the various societies to which he belonged. These included the Bancroft Memorial Lecture on 'He that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow', the Listerian Oration in Adelaide on 'The hasty heart' in 1955, and the Syme Oration in Sydney for The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons on 'Barbers, surgeons and tradition'.
In later life I sometimes required him as a consultant and found him most helpful in a very practical manner. Some consultants then discussed the patient in a very esoteric manner but were not practically helpful. Sir Alexander would discuss any puzzling findings in detail but would then give a clear direction as to what steps should be taken thereafter - much more helpful to a struggling general practitioner as I was then. He maintained the highest standards in both professional and social behaviour and did his best to teach others to follow them with varied results among students! This tendency was accentuated by his 'gamesmanship' as shown on the occasion when Dr Neville, then his RMO, said very proudly, 'I think we have an Albright's syndrome for you today, Sir!'. Although this was a very rare condition then Dr Murphy's immediate answer was, 'Which one, Neville? There are three. When I visited Albright last year he described them all - they are ...'. During the early war years he could not compete with the biochemistry of the visiting Americans but he could usually out-manoeuvre them in a debate by asking for simpler clinical tests about which they rarely had much information. In addition he did not lack a sense of humour, though a rather donnish type and he was, and he was also capable of telling stories against himself. I met him one day unexpectedly when I had grown a new moustache for a short time. He staggered back one pace, raised his hand to shade his eyes and asked, 'What is this, Wilson? - a controlled experiment!.' On thinking this over later I realised that was
exactly
what it was!
Among his other duties he was also a medical examiner for the AMP Society. One male patient who could not pass a urine test was asked to bring one in the next day. When peering down the microscope, Alex saw a villainous-looking organism with huge legs and tentacles leering up at him. He thought he must have discovered a new bladder parasite and rushed off to the State Health Laboratory. 'Oh,' they said, 'that is a really good example of
Macropedia innominata
- it is only found in pond water'. I heard Alex tell this story on several occasions against himself.
His last day of life was typical of his interest, his drive and his determination. Aged almost eighty-four, he saw patients in his rooms in the morning, transacted business in the city in the early afternoon, and swam in his pool later. Despite fatigue he cleaned the pool then struggled up to his bathroom where he had a fatal haemoptysis. The AMA tribute on his death ended:
We honour his memory, a doctor of learning and ability to teach others and one who by his example set a standard of medical practice to be emulated and to enhance the dignity and honour of our profession
.
This was a most fitting and suitable tribute from the AMA in relating to his high standards in all fields and particularly his considerable medical skills. I hope that I may have given a modest glimpse into the complex and very human person who inhibited this very outstanding but sometimes rather forbidding exterior.
Author
HG WILSON
References
Munk's Roll
,
VII
, 418-9;
Med J Aus
t, 1977,
1
, 263;
AMA Gazette
, Oct 1976.
Last Updated
May 30, 2018, 17:34 PM
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