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David Wallace was born in Newcastle in 1925. He attended secondary school at Sydney Church of England Grammar (Shore) and graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Sydney with Honours in 1948. Four years after his graduation, David achieved his Membership of the Royal College of Physicians, the first of his year to obtain postgraduate qualifications. David lived for medicine, both clinical and research, and was a cardiologist at the Royal Newcastle Hospital from 1972 to 1979.
During the 1950's, after a period of overseas study, David worked in a number of different fields of medicine, developing a special interest in cardiology, geriatrics and genetics. Living in Geelong and then Melbourne, he married Nancy and started a family. He moved to Goulbourn NSW in 1962, where he worked as a Consultant Physician and set up the Coronary Care Unit at Goulburn Base Hospital. It was while working full time in this capacity that David completed a thesis entitled "Hereditary Sensory Radicular Neuropathy: A Family Study" which earned him a Doctorate in Medicine from the University of Sydney. He became Foundation Member of the Australian Association of Gerontology and in 1968, a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. In 1964 he underwent surgery to remove the melanoma that 15 years later claimed his life.
In 1969 David took the opportunity to join the Queensland Institute of Medical Research where he undertook a study into the genetics of Huntington's Disease, a work that took him all over Queensland. |
He enlisted in the RAAMC in 1970 and was deployed to Vietnam for three months. On his return he opted again for clinical practice and in 1971 he joined the team at the Royal Newcastle Hospital as Physician and Chairman of the Cardiology Group. There he expanded and developed the Coronary Care Unit. In 1978 David was appointed Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Newcastle and in 1979 he was elected to the Faculty Board.
During David's last years he was an untiring campaigner for the advancement of medical facilities in Newcastle and the Hunter region, a work that ultimately led to the establishment of the John Hunter Hospital. His death in 1979 at the age of 53 brought to an untimely close the life of a man of both intellect and compassion. His highly ethical approach to life and love of learning remain an inspiration to all those who remember him.
The Classics of Medicine Library was donated by the Medical Board, Royal Newcastle Hospital, in memory of David Charles Wallace.
Gryphon Editions publishes facsimile reproductions of classic books in Medicine. Each volume is an exact facsimile of the exceedingly rare original works, often the very first edition .Nothing is changed or altered from the original. |