Memories of a Cariboo Doctor

About the Book

This book is about the author's experiences practicing general medicine in Quesnel, B.C., from 1951 to 1961. The book is written in primarily anecdotal form. It is intended for the general reader. Medical concepts are described in simple terms.

In order to put matters in perspective, the author starts by relating, again in mainly anecdotal form, his experiences completing pre-medicine, medical school and his internship.

In the latter part of the book the author compares (in terms that can be followed by the general audience), the practice of medicine in the 1950s to now. For example, he discusses the impact of universal health care when it was introduced in the 1960s. As well, the author explains why he feels a young physician should seriously consider at least part of his career practicing medicine in a rural, rather than an urban area.

About the Author

Dr. Maher graduated in 1949 from the University of Alberta with a degree in Medicine. He did a year’s rotating internship at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver followed by a year in the departments of Medicine and Pediatrics. In 1951, with his wife and infant son, he travelled to Quesnel to work with Dr. Frank Avery and Dr. Gerald Baker. In 1953, he returned to Edmonton where he was resident in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the new maternity unit of the Royal Alexandra Hospital. He returned to Quesnel in 1954 and continued to work at the Avery Clinic until 1961. He left Quesnel in 1961, spent a year in the Department of Otolaryngology at Shaughnessy Hospital in Vancouver, and then travelled with his wife and four children to Richmond, Virginia. After completing a three-year residency in Otolaryngology at the Medical College of Virginia, he returned to B.C. where he practised general Otolaryngology until 1975 and Otology until 1985. Following coronary by-pass surgery in 1985, he retired to Rivershore Golf Course in Kamloops where he resides with his wife.