Bernard Neal: He originally intended to become a child psychiatrist.

Max Kent: He was the leading figure in the training of every resident and every surgical trainee. He had a wealth of knowledge and he saw no distinction in his role, he was a surgeon paediatrician. His was the example many of us followed in terms of having a solid paediatric background being a sine qua non in practising in the specialty.

David McCredie: Max in your early days, I believe that someone christened you Neo-Nate.

Peter Phelan: With the introduction of Medibank in '75, there were three levels of appointment, Professorial Associates, Senior Associates and Associates. And Nate and Howard Williams were the two appointed as Professorial Associates in the Department of Paediatrics.

Kester Brown: I think Peter Jones should be mentioned for his significant role in medical education.[109] He may not have been within the University Department of Paediatrics specifically, but his contribution to medical education was substantial in that he was the person who stimulated the production of many of the text-books out of the Children's Hospital, including my own. Well, I mean, he helped me with getting it published. His Paediatric Surgery was the text-book that came out that he got all the staff involved with.[110] His book on the pathology of tumours with Peter Campbell[111] was an outstanding contribution in that area.[112] I believe that Peter Jones was one of the great contributors to postgraduate and undergraduate medical education.

Frank Oberklaid: Kester, he was the first editor of the Australian Paediatric Journal with Charlotte Anderson.

Kester Brown: And he was a heraldry expert.

Roger Hall: When I published my book,[113] Peter and I had a lot of discussion about it, and the book is dedicated to Peter.

I'd like to add another quick word about Nate. When he’d refer me patients, he’d usually write a little note with some aside about something he’d picked up while seeing the patient.

Don Kinsey: Just a quick flash-back about Peter Jones. He designed the Hospital's coat of arms. You’ll find the pelican is floating on the water. He chose the pelican in his original design because it always lives in a community and looks after its family and looks after the family of others. That’s why he proposed the pelican. It was standing in the original design, but he found that the University of Barbados had a coat of arms with a pelican standing, so we had to have ours swimming.

Henry Ekert: I'd like to say something about the Combined Cancer Therapy Clinic at the Children’s Hospital which was originated by Max Kent, Alan Williams, Peter Campbell and the late Cyril Minty[114] from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute. It had more to do with the University of Melbourne than the Research Foundation. It is a unique clinic in terms of cancer therapy, bringing together paediatric oncologists, pathologists, radiologists, radiotherapists and surgeons.

Bernard Neal: And general paediatricians, which was very important. As a general paediatrician I would retain the care and overall direction, having had the assembled views of these experts. And that was a great model.

Henry Ekert: Correct. And surgery was a driving force behind it.

Max Kent: It started forty years ago, in 1963, after I arrived back from Chicago. In Chicago they had a primitive form of consultation on cancer cases and related cases. I approached Russell Howard[115] on my return about starting something similar. He took it up. I then went with Russell to John Colebatch and he was very enthusiastic about it. We got it going and it's still going in much the same form. It’s been a tremendous patient service, as well as a valuable experience particularly for the recorder of all the discussions. Other hospitals have attempted to repeat the model, but without the cohesion to keep it going.

Witness to the History of Australian Medicine