Vivian McAlister - Surgeon, Soldier and Historian

Surgeons’ Lives - Stuff that Matters

This is a special interview you should definitely not miss.

First a disclaimer - Vivian has been a friend since we were medical school classmates more than 40 years ago!!

For the first half hour Vivian describes his early career in Ireland and Canada as a GP before retiring to Ireland after a family tragedy. Stumbling into some surgery training jobs he spent a year in transplantation and his career path was launched Back to Canada where he finished his training and became a fixture in London, Ontario and several provinces beyond building transplantation services from London to Nova Scotia etc.

He developed a strong interest in the so-called catastrophe abdomen and created a training fellowship. When he was 51, he listed to a lecture about surgery in the Canadian armed forces and deployment in Afghanistan.

Before long, he was teaching himself neurosurgery and orthopedics and an entirely new approach to surgery in challenging environments. This journey is the second half hour!!

Recently he has retired from clinical practice and has joined the Department of History and continues to study and research and nurture others in their careers.

Just relax, listen and realize there are many ways to succeed in life!!

https://www.schulich.uwo.ca/generalsurgery/people/faculty/vivian_mcalister.html

https://www.cma.ca/dr-vivian-mcalister

https://youtu.be/Ju6L-lq306Y?si=2fmbeOrm0AGR3Yqf