GARRY L. WILLARD MD FRCSC FRCSEdin FACS FICS
5 years after graduation from Queen's University, Dr. Willard found himself in the heat of battle as a combat casualty surgeon in South Vietnam 1968.
Large numbers of civilian casualties sustained during the Vietnamese New Year Tet Offensive January 1968 required urgent care. Canada responded to the International call for help by sending surgeons.
Rigorous surgical training at the University of Toronto had prepared him for volunteer service with the Canadian Red Cross to Vietnam as a trauma surgeon.
He and Queen's Meds'63 classmate Brad, Dr. Kenneth J. Bradley, were the first two Canadian Medical Officers to be deployed and were sent to Danang from Saigon. They worked where surgical needs were greatest in several cities in the 5 northernmost provinces of South Vietnam below the DMZ. These provinces made up I Corps Military Tactical Zone. The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) was the dividing buffer between North and South.
History concludes that their postings were at the time and place of the most intense fighting of the Vietnam War. Although sent by the Canadian Red Cross, they were imbedded in the 1st Battalion 3rd Division of the United States Marine Corps (1/3 USMC) with rank of Major (Acting), earning a battlefield commendation and USMC decorations.
In 1969, while Chief Surgical Resident at St. Michaels' Hospital in Toronto, he obtained his Fellowship Degree in the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada (FRCSC). He then signed on as Ship's Doctor on the iron ore carrier M.S.Livanita sailing to Europe for advanced surgical training as a Gordon E. Richards Travelling Fellow.
He underwent post Fellowship training in: Neurosurgery at Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Denmark; Thoracic Surgery at the Karolinska Institute, University of Stockholm, Sweden; AO Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery in the Universities of St. Gallen and Zurich, Switzerland; Hand Surgery at the University of Geneva; Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery at Universities of Nijmegen and Groningen, Nederland; Pancreatic Surgery at L'Hopital Cochin, Universite de Paris, France; Cardiothoracic Surgery at Sully Thoracic Hospital, Cardiff University, Wales.
From 1972, he practiced general, thoracic, vascular and trauma surgery at Etobicoke General Hospital, Toronto for thirty years, being elected as Chief of Surgery in 1981. He moved to a rural surgical practice in 2002 in Alliston, Ontario, continuing in the training of medical students and surgical residents, as Assistant Professor of Clinical Surgery, McMaster University.
He is currently an Assistant Surgeon at Brampton Civic Hospital, part of The William Osler Health System of the Greater Toronto Area.
In addition to his FRCSC, he holds a Royal College Fellowship from Edinburgh, Scotland (FRCSEdin). His promoter was Regis Professor of Surgery, Sir Patrick Forrest. Dr. Willard is a Fellow of both the American College of Surgeons (FACS) and the International College of Surgeons (FICS). And a Diplomat of both the American National Board of Examiners and the American Board of Surgery.
He holds memberships in a large number of North American professional associations, including the Flying Physicians, American Automotive Medical, and Aerospace Medical. He is a Life Member of the Ontario Medical Association and the New York Academy of Science. He was a Founding Member of the American Trauma Society.
He lives on a rural property northwest of Toronto near Loretto with his wife Heather, his daughter Lisa, his autistic son Christopher, variously with his stepchildren Melissa and Matthew, and Scout, the last of a loyal trio of Yellow Labradors.
