Interview with William Hederman
Transcript of an interview conducted by Dr Susan Mullaney with Mr William Hederman, a retired cardiac surgeon.
In the interview Mr Hederman talked about a number of topics, including:
- the generations of medics in his family;
- medical education in UCD [University College Dublin];
- experience gained while a student in the Mater Misercordiae Hospital and the Coombe Hospital, both in Dublin City, and in St Michael's Hospital, Dun Laoghaire;
- time spent working in the Prince of Wales Hospital in London; the Mater Misercordiae Hospital, Dublin,; and in Denver, Colorado, USA;
- treatment of TB lung by pneumothorax;
- new methods in cardiac surgery;
- pioneering work in vascular surgery;
- the change brought about by the development of specialisation in the medical profession;
- the introduction of antibiotics;
- prostate surgery;
- the eradication of tuberculosis by streptomycin;
- life in Ireland during the Second World War and social changes in his lifetime;
- recollections of polio treatment;
- opinions on Noel Browne's time as Minister for Health, 1948-1951;
- the involvement of his wife Carmencita in politics, and in particular her time as Lord Mayor of Dublin during the city's millenium year of 1988.
21 January 2013