Pictured: Dr. Kenric Murayama introduces Dr. John G. Hunter before his speech. Photo by Deborah Manog.
By Deborah Manog, UH Med Now
The legacy of Dr. Thomas J. Whelan Jr. was honored with a dinner at the Oahu Country Club on November 3, 2017 with proceeds from the evening benefiting the Thomas J. Whelan Jr., M.D, Endowed Chair in the Department of Surgery.
The dinner was held on the same day as the second Thomas J. Whelan Visiting Professorship. This year’s keynote speaker was Dr. John G. Hunter, who presented a lecture titled, “Surgical Residency Redesign: Is it time?”
At the dinner, surgeons and guests were invited to meet Dr. John G. Hunter, who recently completed his term as Chair of the American Board of Surgery.
Dr. Hunter is also the Mackenzie Professor of Surgery and Chair of the Department of Surgery of the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Oregon. His distinguished career includes his pioneering work towards minimally invasive surgery and surgical endoscopy.
About Thomas J. Whelan Jr., M.D.
Thomas J. Whelan Jr., M.D assumed the post of chief of surgery at Hawaiʻi’s Tripler Army Medical Center in 1965. Prior to that, he had earned an international reputation as a vascular trauma surgeon, having honed his skills in the early mobile army surgical hospitals (MASH) of the Korean War.
For nearly 16 years, Dr. Whelan was an extraordinary teacher, mentor and friend to the faculty and trainees in the Department of Surgery at the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM). His philosophy of surgery was both simple and profound.
“The privilege of being able to take care of other human beings as a physician is a very beautiful relationship,” Dr. Whelan said in a tape recorded interview before his death in 1999.
See slideshow below. Photos by Deborah Manog and Melia Young, UH JABSOM Events Coordinator
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