Humanity in Medicine: The Life of Physician Dr Stanley Goulston

In 1940, soon after graduating, Dr Stanley Goulston joined the Australian Army. As the sole doctor to 1500 soldiers, he was sent to the Middle East where the Allied forces were fighting the Germans and Italians. His battalion was part of the iconic Rats of Tobruk during the famous siege. At Tobruk he was awarded a Military Cross.

In 1947 he was appointed honorary physician to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney. He became one of Australia’s first gastroenterologists and advanced this speciality at his hospital and beyond. In senior roles with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians he headed a long-lasting redesign of physician training. Stanley Goulston was universally admired for his humility, empathy and commitment to teaching and research.

For most of his life, he wrote poetry. At 79 he completed a Master of Philosophy degree at Sydney University and then taught narrative and poetry to doctors and medical students with the aim of fostering a more humane and compassionate version of modern scientific medicine.