Sir Herbert Henry Schlink

Herbert Henry “Bertie” Schlink (28 March 1883 – 30 November 1962) was an Australian medical doctor, hospital administrator, and healthcare policy maker. He was also active in winter sports.

Biography Herbert Schlink was born in Wodonga, Australia, on 28 March 1883 as the seventh of eight children. He attended public school in Wodonga and, until 1900, St. Patrick's College in Goulburn, New South Wales. At St. John's College of the University of Sydney, he earned a Bachelor of Medicine (MB) and in 1907 a Master of Surgery (MCh).

At the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, a teaching hospital in Sydney, he became junior resident medical officer in 1907, assistant superintendent in 1909, and superintendent in 1911. In 1912, he opened his own practice on Macquarie Street in Sydney.

In 1908, he joined the Australian Army Medical Corps and in 1914 became commander of a company stationed at the Liverpool Military Camp in 1915. After investigations in the Federal Parliament, Chief Justice George Rich ruled it inappropriate to appoint an officer of German origin as commander, and Schlink was removed from the camp despite his declarations of loyalty. He remained on the officer list until 1919.

From 1922, he was a gynecological surgeon at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. He specialized in treating pelvic cancer, initially through surgical procedures and later combined with radiotherapy using cobalt rays. He developed statistical methods for the systematic follow-up of cancer patients. In 1928, he attended the American College of Surgeons' congress in Boston and gave a lecture on women smoking cigarettes. In 1927, he co-founded the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. In 1937, he traveled via the Suez Canal to Greece and Naples, then to Russia, France, Scandinavia, and England. In Paris, he acquainted himself with new technological advancements. In 1939, his textbook Gynaecology was published by Angus & Robertson, with revised and expanded editions in 1949 and 1955.

Herbert Schlink married physician Margaret “Meg” née Mulvey (1916–2001) at Saint Mary's Cathedral in 1945. He died on 30 November 1962 and was buried in Mona Vale.

Australian painter Frederick William “Fred” Leist (1873–1945) painted portraits of Schlink, which are housed at King George V Memorial Hospital and Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Hungarian-Australian sculptor Andor Mészáros, whom Schlink supported from 1940, created the statue The Surgeon at Schlink's commission in 1944, which was installed at the entrance of King George V Memorial Hospital. After Schlink's death, he created a bust of Schlink, which is located at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

Health policy work In 1925, Schlink became director of the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital; from 1934 to 1962, he was chairman of the hospital administration. In this role, he oversaw the opening of Gloucester House in Camperdown, the King George V Memorial Hospital for Mothers and Babies (1958), a nurses' home, neurosurgical and psychiatric departments, the Page Chest Pavilion, and a hospital chapel.

Activities outside work Schlink was an active winter sports enthusiast, often referred to as the “Father of Australian Skiing”. From 1910, he was a member of the Ski Club of Great Britain and from 1928 an honorary member of the Kandahar Ski Club of Mürren in Switzerland.

On 28 July 1927, he led a group with Eric Fisher, William Gordon, William Hughes, and John Laidley to cross the main range of the Snowy Mountains from Kiandra to the Kosciuszko Hotel for the first time. New editions: 1949, 1955. The hospital problem of the metropolitan and suburban area of Sydney. Australasian Medical Publishing, Sydney 1940. with W. D. Cunningham: Gynaecology lectures. Sections 1 & 2 to nurses in training. Repatriation General Hospital, Concord, N.S.W. 1950. Cancer of the Cervix Uteri. Australian Results, 1930–1950. In: BJOG – An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 57, 5, 1950, pp. 714–720. Cancer of the Female Pelvis. In: BJOG – An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 67, 3, 1960, pp. 402–410.

Literature Albert James Perier: Portrait of Dr. Herbert Schlink (?), President of the Ski Club of Australia, Mount Kosciusko. Around 1926. Kempson Maddox: Schlink of Prince Alfred. A Biography of Sir Herbert Schlink. Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, 1978, ISBN 0-9598171-5-8.