The  consultant  may  take  two  courses  :  either
attempt  to  do  as  many  operations  in  his  area


248  A  CONSULTING  SURGEON  IN  THE  NEAR  EAST

as  his  physical  strength  will  permit,  or  he  may,
having  formed  a  clear  opinion  of  the  capacities
of  the  surgeons  in  the  hospitals,  decide  what
operations  they  are  to  undertake,  reserving  to
himself  the  more  difficult  and  rare  ones.  The
first  course  precludes  the  possibility  of  his  exer-
cising his  most  important  function,  that  of
keeping  full  and  adequate  supervision  over  the
general  state  of  surgery  in  his  area  and  main-
taining its  standard.  It  also  exhausts  him,  and
in  a  hot  climate  such  as  Egypt  it  will  soon  render
him  unfit.  Of  course,  if  there  is  a  sudden  pressure
of  operative  work  at  any  centre  where  he  may
happen  to  be,  he  will  be  prepared  to  operate  for
so  long  and  to  treat  as  many  cases  as  the  youngest
of  the  M.O.'s.  This,  however,  is  exceptional,
and,  if  persisted  in,  it  will  interfere  with  those
regular  and  expected  visits  to  hospitals,  which
do  so  much  to  keep  surgical  practice  at  a  high
level.  Constant  and  punctual  visiting  of  hos-
pitals is  an  invaluable  stimulus  to  work  all
round.
Conferences  of  Consultants.— With  the  ever-
changing  conditions  of  war,  and  owing  to  the
number  of  new  methods  of  treatment  advocated,
it  will  undoubtedly  add  to  the  efficiency  of  medical
work  in  any  Force  if  those,  who  are  primarily
responsible  for  the  quality  of  the  work,  are  afforded
frequent  opportunities  of  meeting  each  other  and
of  conferring  with  the  Director  of  Medical  Services.
