title: Norman Bethune, Canadian surgeon: his Chinese connection.
abstract: Norman Bethune, a Canadian thoracic surgeon who dabbled in painting, poetry, criticism, teaching and invention, was a member of the Communist Party of Canada. He became involved in two civil wars on opposite sides of the world and amassed both criticism and respect from colleagues and national leaders. The author describes Bethune's time in China, during which he developed front line field hospitals for Mao Tse-tung and his guerrillas in their struggle against the Japanese during 1938 and 1939. His efforts in China on behalf of the wounded brought him into contact with the primitive military medicine of the country and the poverty of its people; it earned for him a local reputation as saviour and benefactor and gave him an honoured place in Chinese military history.
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D002681:China; D013502:General Surgery / Q000266:history*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D008887:Military Medicine / Q000266:history