Figure 3

Microsurgery on actual patients was preceded by extensive research. Used with the permission of the Bernard O’Brien Institute of Microsurgery.

Now, none of this would have happened without some of the personalities that featured large in the history of the institute. I've chosen images of a few key players, but of course there were many more. And here is an image of the leadership team which retained a large element of consistency over the years and which has benefited the Institute.

Then there are the fund-raisers who have played an essential role in the history and pre-history of the Institute, as successive Annual Reports indicate. They conducted many successful events, such as the Concert of the Year.

Other well-publicised events in the history of the Institute were the visits of State and Federal politicians and celebrities such as Archbishops, Nobel laureates and community leaders. These visits provided the Institute with legitimacy and a following among influential people in the community.

Achieving adequate accommodation and facilities for staff has always been a major concern because the laboratories, operating theatres and so on are where the science is conducted.

When we gathered briefly before today's meeting started, I heard quite a lot of discussion about Bernard O’Brien. It seems fitting that we begin with some recollections of him and his motivation to get involved in microsurgery. Perhaps we could start with Sir Laurence Muir who regularly received phone-calls from Mr O’Brien on Sunday mornings after Mass, as I understand it.[6]

Witness to the History of Australian Medicine