Wartime Medical Cooperation across the Pacific: Wilder Penfield and the Anglo-American Medical Missions to the Soviet Union and China, 1943-1944

摘要

In July 1943, Wilder Penfield, an internationally renowned Canadianneurosurgeon, led a high-profile group of Anglo-American surgeons in a3-week tour of Soviet medical facilities and battlefield hospitals. This venturepaved the way for other medical missions, both Allied and Soviet, and the communicationof medical information. This was followed by a mission to China,to provide assistance to the government of Chiang Kai-shek. The most importantconnection was, however, between Western medical scientists and theircounterparts in the Soviet Union, a relationship that lasted until the advent ofthe Cold War. In this paper the exchange is examined, and it is argued that thesurgical mission was a major catalyst in the creation of an extensive system ofwartime medical interchange, which inspired hope for future cooperation in thepostwar world.