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never be made a cause for excuse, and that the physicallyhandicapped should endeavour to take on more than thenormal person-precepts which he himself lived by.

" It is impossible to believe that Jim will be seen no moreat the Royal Infirmary, and that his advice and guidancewill no longer be available to the Royal College of Physi-cians of Edinburgh. He was a devoted husband andfather whose conscience and sense of duty led him to thetop of his profession, and whose whole life was a triumphantsuccess over all his physical disabilities."

JOHN PARKSM.D. Wisconsin, F.R.C.O.G.

Dr. John Parks, dean of medicine and vice-presidentfor medical affairs in George Washington University,Washington, died at his home in Annapolis on July5, at the age of 64.He was for many years chairman of the department of

obstetrics and gynxcology in the George WashingtonMedical Center, and was past president of the AmericanGynecological Society, of the National Board of MedicalExaminers, of the Postgraduate Association of North

America, and of the Association of American Medical

Colleges. A distinguished clinician and full-time professorof obstetrics and gynaecology, his interest turned to medicaladministration and especially to medical education. Histalent for attracting large sums of money for building andfor the support of medical education was much appreciatedby his school. He stood for modern methods in medicalpractice, believing that group practice would become thestandard method of delivering health care, and that thestudent must therefore be shown how a group of physicianscould work together for the benefit of the individual patientand his family. His distinction in the specialty of obstetricsand gynaecology was recognised by the award of theF.R.C.O.G. (ad eundem) in 1969.

In his youth he was a distinguished athlete and was wellknown as an oarsman and on the football field. In theirhomes in Washington and in Annapolis, John Parks andhis wife, Mary Dean, warmly entertained their wide circleof friends, including many British gynaecologists and theirfamilies. He and his wife were childhood friends, and thosewho were privileged to know them well never thought ofJohn Parks without Mary Dean; they were completelycomplementary and each a tremendous strength to theother. He made several visits to Britain and was especiallyinterested in the organisation and delivery of health care.During a visit not long ago he spent a whole day with onegeneral practitioner in Northumberland, visiting patientsin their homes, and was much impressed by this personalapproach to medical care. But he knew very well that whatwas possible and right for one country might not be feasibleor acceptable in another. In all matters his mind wascompletely open, and it was always pleasant and profitableto talk to him. American medicine never had a finerambassador.

J. K. R.

Dr. J. H. SHELDON

E. P. C. writes:" I feel it would not be out of place to mention Dr.

Sheldon’s report to the Birmingham Regional HospitalBoard on its geriatric services, which was published by theBoard in 1961. It records the visits made by Dr. Sheldonto every geriatric hospital in the area, a study of the con-ditions existing in these hospitals, an appreciation of theburdens borne by the staff in many of them, and theindignities suffered by patients in some of the oldest and

least well adapted of the buildings. It is a document fullof compassion, scholarship, historical interest, and clinicalobservation. It is clearly written by a man who had asmuch understanding of the burdens placed on the nursingprofession as he had of his own. In an appendix to thereport he put forward a design for geriatric units, and manyareas of the West Midlands now have Sheldon units for thecare and comfort of elderly patients. In Oswestry, twowards were built attached to the Orthopaedic Hospital, oneof which was named the Sheldon ward-a worthy memorialto a great man.

"

P. H. S. S. adds:

" Dr. J. H. Sheldon excelled as a teacher of under-

graduate students. The small number of us who went to

Wolverhampton from London during the war agreed thathe was the finest clinical teacher with whom we had comein contact. That he succeeded with the very best studentsgoes without saying, but he was also marvellously successfulwith the old chronics, who were often demoralised byendless failure. It was not just that he instructed them inthe rudiments of medicine, of which they were woefullyignorant, but that, in doing so, he restored to them self-confidence and hope: in an amazingly short time he trans-formed them into keen young doctors. The metamorphosiswas effected by his personality, which he lavished so

generously on all of us."

Appointments

DURHAM, N. A., M.D.Bombay, M.R.C.P. : consultant venereologist, St.Luke’s Clinic, Salford, and Manchester Royal Infirmary.

MANNALL, 1. G., M.B.St.And., M.R.C.P., D.C.H.: consultant paediatrician,Halifax.

SMITH, P. H., M.B.Manc., M.R.C.P. : consultant in rheumatology, rehabili-tation, and physical medicine, Salford and North East Manchesterhospital groups.

STILLMAN, I. R., B.M.Oxon., F.R.c.s.: consultant in accident and emer-gency, Chesterfield Royal Hospital, Derbyshire.

WYLLIE, G. A. M., M.B.Glasg., M.R.C.O.G.: consultant obstetrician andgynaecologist, Halifax.

East Anglian Regional Hospital Board:CuTHILL, JUDITH J., M.B.Dubl., M.R.C.PSYCH., D.P.M.: consultant in

family psychiatry, Ipswich group H.M.c. and West Suffolk H.mt.c.HACKMAN, B. W., M.B.Brist., M.R.C.O.G.: consultant obstetrician and

gynaecologist, Peterborough and Stamford H.M.C.MORRIS, T. M. 0., M.B.Cantab., F.R.C.S., D.L.O. : consultant E.N.T.

surgeon, King’s Lynn Area and North Cambridgeshire H.M.c.s.PHILIPSON, J. A. M., M.B.Cantab., F.R.C.S.E. : consultant orthopa:dic

surgeon, King’s Lynn Area and North Cambridgeshire H.M.C.s.

North East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board:HANDY, J. L., M.B.Lond., F.F.A. R.c.s.: consultant anaesthetist, Chelms-

ford hospital group.LETCHER, R. G. M., M.B.Lond., M.R.C.PATH., D.C.H.: consultant

pathologist, Harlow hospital group.MACKINNON, D. M., M.B.Manc., F.R.C.S., F.R.C.S.E.: consultant E.N.T.

surgeon, Forest hospital group.RAMSEY, I. D., M.D.Edin., M.R.C.P., M.R.C.P.E. : consultant physician

(endocrinology), Enfield hospital group.RICHARDSON, P. C., M.B., B.sc.Lond., M.R.C.P. : consultant physician,

Harlow hospital group.

North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board:DHOLAKIA, A. M., M.B.Gujarat, F.F.R., D.M.R.D.: consultant radiologist,

Watford General Hospital and Bushey Hospital.GARDINER, A. B., M.B.Lond., D.P.M.: consultant psychiatrist, Napsbury

Hospital.NOTARAS, M. J., M.B.Sydney, F.R.C.S., F.R.C.S.E.: consultant surgeon,

Barnet hospital group.PATTISSON, P. H., M.B.Lond., F.R.C.S., F.R.C.S.E.: consultant surgeon,

South West Middlesex hospital group.PHILLIPS, J. P., F.R.c.s.: consultant traumatic and orthopaedic surgeon,

Mount Vernon Hospital.WILLOUGHBY, J. M. T., B.M.Oxon., M.R.C.P. : consultant physician,

New Lister Hospital.