Overview
This is the story of Gordon Heaslip and his bequest to a medical school in South Australia to remedy the deficiencies in medical education he suffered before graduating MBBS (Adelaide) in 1929. Born in 1902 in mid-north South Australia where the pioneering Heaslip family created an agricultural dynasty, Gordon chose to become a Methodist medical missionary. After completing medical and theological studies, Gordon and wife Barbara went to Fergusson Island in Papua. After providing medical and spiritual care to Papuans during the depression, Gordon and Barbara returned to Adelaide where Gordon completed medical research on tropical fevers and joined the military in WW II. After medical discharge with polycythemia vera in 1946, Gordon developed farms in Tintinara and Gilles Downs Station near Iron Knob. Gordon died in 1961 from leukemia and polycythemia. Flinders University received the bequest which is being applied to preventive medicine and primary health care.
Full Product Details
Author: Peter McDonald ,
Robert Fitzsimons ,
Peter Preece
Publisher: Wakefield Press
Imprint: Wakefield Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.60cm
, Height: 0.90cm
, Length: 23.40cm
Weight: 0.270kg
ISBN: 9781923388154
ISBN 10: 1923388150
Pages: 126
Publication Date: 17 July 2025
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Available To Order
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Author Information
Emeritus Professor Peter McDonald AM was the inaugural head of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at Flinders University. In that role he joined the team that initiated the Flinders Medical Curriculum and established clinical and laboratory services for infectious diseases at Flinders Medical Centre. From Flinders, his research into antibiotic dosing was applied internationally to reduce the rate of sepsis after surgery and employed in developing new antibiotics. As Chair of the Commonwealth AIDS Research Grants committee, he coordinated research in Australia that underpinned the control of HIV in Australia and contributed to global control. Professor McDonald played a role in health system reform by leading South Australian trials in coordinating health care and developing national infection-control guidelines. He was awarded AM for services to Infectious Diseases and control of HIV/AIDS. Robert Fitzsimons (PhD) has a special interest in South Australian history - one of several fields of historical research in which he was engaged over many years at Flinders University. Peter Preece is the grandson of W.G. (Gordon) Heaslip, who provided access to the Heaslip Diaries and facilitated contact with Gordon's family.
