Harold Buhalts BOYD1904–1981

years during World War II when he served as an orthopedic surgeon in the Canadian Armed Forces. He was a member of the faculty of the University of British Columbia. Boucher was a member and past president of the Canadian Orthopedic Association, the International Society of Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology, and the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.

Boucher had a great interest in sports, espe- cially football. He coached Canadian football for several years and wrote several books for the use of trainers and coaches. He was an avid hunter who enjoyed training his own hunting dogs.

Boucher had a special interest in spinal surgery and was a pioneer in the use of internal fixation as a part of lumbosacral fusions.

—Medical degree—College of Medical Evange- lists, Los Angeles, California, 1932; Alumnus of the Year, 1954

—Internship—Los Angeles County Hospital, 1932

—Surgical residency—Kern County Hospital, Bakersfield, California, 1932–1934; surgical staff, Battle Creek Sanatorium, summer 1934

—Orthopedic residency—Campbell Clinic, Memphis, Tennessee, 1934–1936

—Orthopedic practice—White Memorial Hospi- tal, Los Angeles, California, 1936–1937;

Campbell Clinic staff, 1938–1974, Chief of Staff, 1962–1970

—Academic appointments—Orthopedic Depart- ment, University of Tennessee School of Medicine, 1940–1977; Professor and Head of Department, 1958–1971

—American Board of Orthopedic Surgery—cer- tified, 1938; Member of the Board, 1964; Vice President, 1968; Residency Review Commit- tee, 1964–1967; Chairman, 1964

—The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons—membership, 1941; Secretary, 1947–1952; President, 1953

—Other orthopedic organizations—the American Orthopedic Association, American Society for Surgery of the Hand, Orthopedic Research Society, Western Orthopedic Society, Inter- national Society of Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology; honorary member, British Orthopedic Association, South African Ortho- pedic Association, Latin American Society of Orthopedics and Traumatology, and ortho- pedic societies in Chile, Bolivia and Venezuela

—American College of Surgeons—President, Tennessee Chapter, 1965

—The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery—

Trustee, 1966–1972; Treasurer, 1968–1972

—Medical societies—President of Memphis and Shelby County Medical Society, 1957; Ten- nessee Physician of the Year, 1973

—Research—member of the Surgical Study Section, National Institutes of Health, 1957–1961; Orthopedic Research and Educa- tion Foundation, Trustee, 1964, President, 1966; Campbell Foundation, President, 1970–1974

—Military—orthopedic consultant to the army in Japan and Korea, 1951

—Extraordinary honor—the National Order of the Southern Cross, Brazil, 1953

33

Who’s Who in Orthopedics

Harold Buhalts BOYD

1904–1981

Harold Boyd was born in Chattanooga, Ten- nessee, in 1904, the only child of Seventh-day Adventist missionary parents. Farm work and car- pentry added much to the strength, endurance, and manual dexterity that were later to enhance his surgical skills. After attending Emmanual Missionary College in Berrien Springs, Michigan, he entered the College of Medical Evangelists, now Loma Linda University.

A brief outline of his activities reflects his

diverse interests and the high esteem of his

peers:

Dr. Boyd had the main ingredients that are nec- essary to be a good physician and surgeon: intel- ligence, integrity, compassion, humility, and dedication, sprinkled with a dash of humor. He also possessed the quality of greatness: the ability to evaluate a problem logically, to separate the important from the less important issues, to review the alternatives, and to arrive at the most appropriate solution. This unique quality, coupled with his thoughtfulness and genuine interest in people, endeared him to his patients as well as his colleagues. All who knew him could appreciate the high quality of this man, especially the young, for he could always find the time to be with them and to let them know that he appreciated their efforts. “Be nice to the young as you climb the ladder; you may pass them again on the way down.”

As a physician, he was superb. His vast knowl- edge of medicine and his ability to evaluate people objectively, as well as his willingness to listen and provide service and his extraordinary judgment were such that he developed a large national and international practice. Many patients from Central and South America sought his advice. He truly enjoyed the practice of medicine, and no problem was too small to attract his interest.

As a surgeon, he had no peer. He was truly a surgeon’s surgeon. His even temperament allowed him to apply his great knowledge of anatomy and vast surgical experience, so that he was unhurried and always in control. He enjoyed teaching while he was operating or assisting a young surgeon, and emphasized atraumatic tech- nique. He was a master in manipulation of frac- tures of the proximal end of the femur and especially in supracondylar fractures of the humerus in children.

Dr. Boyd always was interested in research and very cognizant of the need for both laboratory and clinical investigation. His own articles involved mainly congenital pseudarthrosis of the tibia, bone grafting for nonunion, femoral neck and trochanteric fractures, and dislocations of the shoulder. His original contributions were in the areas of dual-onlay bone grafts for nonunions, an anatomical approach for exposure of the radial head and neck and proximal end of the ulna, amputation of the foot with tibiocalcaneal fusion, and disarticulation of the hip. He always was interested in innovations and had the ability to identify clinical applications, such as compres- sion plates for the fixation of forearm fractures,

total hip replacements, and the electrical stimula- tion of bone for nonunion. He contributed more than 60 articles to the literature and participated in the six editions of Campbell’s Operative

throughout his retirement.

Harold Boyd was very proud of his contribu- tions to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons during its formative years. He had the pleasure of knowing intimately all of the presi- dents of the Academy up to the time of his death.

During his tenure as secretary of the Academy (from 1947 to 1952), there was no full-time exec- utive director; he always believed that one of his major contributions to the Academy was his part in convincing Dr. Charles Heck that he should leave an excellent orthopedic practice to become the full-time executive director of the Academy.

Photography was one of his few hobbies, and many have enjoyed his travelogue sound-slide programs. The first was a result of his camera hunt of wild game in Africa. Background music was provided by his close friend, Hugh Smith.

This was the stimulus for the educational sound- slide program of the Academy.

Traveling was his true avocation. He and his wife, Jean, meticulously planned the trips, read much about the places they would visit, and usually knew more of the history of an area than did the local people. He always could find time to visit some medical institution or friend, and often did some lecturing on these trips. He was an un- official orthopedic ambassador to Central and South America, as well as to Europe and the Far East. His trip to the People’s Republic of China subsequently led to the first group of orthopedic surgeons sponsored by the American Orthopedic Association visiting the orthopedic centers of that country. To put at ease people who spoke English poorly, he informed them that their English was much better than his Japanese, Portuguese, or whatever their native language was.

Dr. Boyd enjoyed teaching—whether from the podium, in the operating or dressing room, or even over a meal—and for these sessions many medical students, residents, and practicing physi- cians are most indebted to him. He carefully pre- pared his lectures so that they were clear and concise, with faultless slides, and did not exceed the allotted time. As Chief of Staff of the Campbell Clinic and Professor and Head of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at the Univer- sity of Tennessee, he spent a considerable amount of time teaching, and was always able to combine

Who’s Who in Orthopedics

patient care in the outpatient department, surgery, or the emergency room with teaching. He was a highly sought-after guest lecturer and visiting professor.

During medical school he had to spend a year in bed because of pulmonary tuberculosis, and probably it was during this time that his lifelong reading habits developed. He enjoyed relating to others what he had just read and would loan or give articles or books to anyone he felt would benefit from or enjoy them. His interests included history, science, nature, and travel. One of his favorite books was The Precepts and Counsels on

is now available only through the National Library of Medicine.

An excellent conversationalist, Dr. Boyd liked to talk about his trips, his reading, and his orthopedic experiences. Often he apologized for talking too much, but his phenomenal memory and his knowledge of the Bible and of medical and nonmedical matters provided a vast amount of material from which to draw. Humor, com- bined with some significant point, was typical of his conversations: “You can’t chew gum and look intelligent at the same time.” “Don’t do an unnec- essary operation on the basis that if you don’t, someone else will. Let the other person make the mistake.” “Listen to the patient. He’s trying to tell you what’s wrong with him.” “Some operations are better for the doctor than the patient.” “In some instances, when there are two or more pro- cedures available, one may not be better than the other; they may be equally bad.” “Be careful of operating on patients who do not have pain, because if they subsequently do have pain, they will blame you.” “Be careful of accepting praise from a patient who tells you how great you are and how bad all of the other doctors have been previously; you, too, will shortly join that list.”

Dr. Harold Buhalts Boyd died at the age of 76 in retirement in Oceanside, California, on May 29, 1981.

Elliott Gray BRACKETT

1860–1942

Although Elliott Gray Brackett was not a founder of the American Orthopedic Association, he was one of the earliest to be admitted to membership, and he served the Association more years in various official capacities than anyone else. As one who, from the very beginning of his mem- bership in the Association, had shown a very keen interest in its objectives and was instrumental in helping to achieve them, his activities on behalf of this body are a challenge to the present membership.

If the American Orthopedic Association means anything to its members and if it has figured at all in making the specialty respected in this country and abroad, it is due in no small measure to the group of pioneers who developed an especial interest in the understanding and treatment of chronic diseases in bones and joints, and of related conditions, that appeared to call for special training on the part of those who were to treat them. To this group Dr. Brackett attached himself in 1889, 2 years after the founding of the Association.

It was but natural that he should have chosen this line of work, for a personal experience with a crippling affection, which confined him to bed for a year while he was a student in Harvard Medical School, coupled with the fact that Dr.

Edward H. Bradford took care of him through this illness, would have made a man of Dr. Brackett’s sympathies turn to a specialty where he could be

Who’s Who in Orthopedics