Archibald mcindoe biography sample

Born in New Zealand in 1900, Sir Archibald McIndoe was destined to be a gifted and talented surgeon. By the outbreak of the Second World War, there were only four fully experienced plastic surgeons in Great Britain – Sir Archibald being one.

As the casualties of the war came flooding in, it became clear – certainly in the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, where Sir Archibald was based – that the volume and severity of injuries would be unparalleled and unlike anything the hospital had seen before.

Sir Archibald said, The Guinea Pig Club "has been described as the most exclusive club in the world, but the entrance fee is something most men would not care to pay and the conditions of membership are arduous in the extreme."

A special ward, Ward III, was allocated for Sir Archibald’s patients. The majority of injuries were caused when aircraft fuel tanks ignited, often engulfing the crew in flames before they could escape. Despite wearing heavy duty flying jackets and trousers, their hands and faces were often exposed and bore the brunt of the inferno, causing terrible, life-changing injuries.

Before 1939, burns victims rarely survived their injuries and Sir Archibald realised early on the woeful inadequacies of burns and plastic surgery treatments.

He devised new ways to treat burns including the use of saline to bathe them and he secured the banning of tannic acid, which had been routinely used to treat burns, often with disastrous consequences for the patient.

Sir Archibald was also interested in the psychological effects on his patients and he championed their rehabilitation back into the community. First-hand accounts from the Guinea Pigs themselves tell of Sir Archibald’s tireless determination to ensure that none of his patients would experience prejudice or discrimination once they left the confines of the hospital.

He hosted seminars and lectures at the hosp

New Zealand plastic surgeon (1900–1960)

Sir Archibald Hector McIndoeCBE FRCS (4 May 1900 – 11 April 1960) was a New Zealand plastic surgeon who worked for the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He improved the treatment and rehabilitation of badly burned aircrew.

Early life

Archibald McIndoe was born 4 May 1900 in Forbury, in Dunedin, New Zealand, into a family of four. His father was John McIndoe, a printer and his mother was the artist Mabel McIndoe née Hill. He had three brothers and one sister. McIndoe studied at Otago Boys' High School and later medicine at the University of Otago. After his graduation he became a house surgeon at Waikato Hospital.

In 1924, McIndoe was awarded the first New Zealand Fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in the United States to study pathological anatomy. The fellowship was for an unmarried doctor and as McIndoe had recently married Adonia Aitkin they had to keep their marriage secret and he sailed without her. When it was no longer possible to maintain the secret she joined him 12 months later. He worked in the clinic as First Assistant in Pathological Anatomy 1925–1927 and published several papers on chronic liver disease. Impressed with his skill, Lord Moynihan suggested a career in Britain, and in 1930 McIndoe moved to London.

When McIndoe could not find work, his cousin Sir Harold Gillies, an otolaryngologist specialising in plastic surgery (who now has an operation for reducing a broken cheekbone named after himself), invited him to join the private practice he ran with Rainsford Mowlem and offered him a job at St Bartholomew's Hospital, where he became a clinical assistant. In 1932, McIndoe received a permanent appointment as a General Surgeon and Lecturer at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

In 1934, McIndoe received a Fellowship of the American College of Surgeons, where he worked until 1939. That

During the lead up to the WW2 it was realised that aerial activity was going to take a much more prominent role than previously seen. Studies of the Spanish Civil War revealed that aerial conflict led to an increase in burn injuries and a subsequent increase in the need for treatment facilities to deal with the casualties. The Emergency Medical Service was developed in order to cope with this anticipated demand. One of their centres was established at the Queen Victoria Cottage Hospital under the leadership of the New Zealand plastic surgeon, Archibald McIndoe.

Archibald was made CBE in 1944 and then Knighted in 1947, in recognition of his pioneering work in the treatment of deep burn injuries and reconstructive surgery. During the early years of the war, victims of burns from RAF aircrews were taken to his hospital located in East Grinstead which was soon to become world famous. They challenged the existing perception that disabilities were life-limiting and went on to mentor the patients in order to move back into general society with a rebuilt mental attitude to match their renewed physical state.

Patients would socialise together at the hospital during their ongoing treatment and convalescence and, on 20 July 1941, their conversation turned to the idea of setting up a club. As they were, in effect, guinea pigs in the developing techniques of plastic surgery, it was decided that “The Guinea Pig Club” would be an appropriate name.

The Guinea Pig Club was set up as a result of this conversation and developed to include three types of membership:

• The Guinea Pig. These members consisted of Allied Air Force aircrew members of WWII who had undergone at least two operations, at the hospital, for their injuries.
• Honorary Member. These consisted of Surgeons, Doctors, and Scientists involved in the development and implementation of the techniques of treatment.
• Club Benefactors. These members became known as “Friends of the Guinea Pig Club”.

Mr. McIndoe was