Local Surgeon, Veteran to Share Experiences, Thoughts on Military Medicine

NORTHAMPTON — “He who wishes to be a surgeon must first go to war,” Hippocrates is quoted as having said. It’s a philosophy orthopedic surgeon and former Army major Dr. Robert Campbell has lived through.

On Wednesday, Sept. 23, Campbell will present “Military Medicine: Historical and Personal Perspectives” at 6 p.m. in the Dakin Conference Room at Cooley Dickinson Hospital.

In this free community lecture, Campbell will discuss military medicine and some of the advances in medical care that have resulted from the tragedy that is war. His theme will be illustrated by some of his personal experiences as an Army orthopedic surgeon in Logar Province and Bagram, Afghanistan, where he treated soldiers, civilians, and enemy combatants from August 2009 to February 2010.

Campbell will offer accounts of surgeries he and his peers performed for some of the most devastating extremity injuries he’s ever encountered, first in a forward surgical team and then at the military hospital at Bagram Airfield. He will talk about historical aspects of military medicine as well as personal perspectives gained during the war. “I think about it every day,” he told the Brockton Enterprise in 2012, “because we’re pretty lucky.”

Fellowship-trained in spine surgery and orthopedic trauma at Brown University, Rhode Island Hospital, Campbell is now a spine surgeon and orthopedic trauma specialist at Cooley Dickinson Orthopedics & Sports Medicine in West Hatfield.

Prepared questions are welcome and encouraged. The presentation contains some images of a medically graphic nature. Registration is required, and space is limited. For more information or to register, visit cooley-dickinson.org/classes or call (888) 554-4234.