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"I am the son of a Methodist preacher. The male members of our
family have see-sawed back and forth between the ministry and medicine
as far back as the record goes, even when my family lived in Scotland.
We've lived in the South for six generations.

"I reckon 1 always wanted to be a doctor. When I was a boy I
was always giving sick animals medicine and cutting into them if they
didn't get well. I took two years of pre-med work at Southern Univer-
sity. But when I got out of there, I didn't know how I could go ahead
with my medical studies. You know how poor preachers are.

"So to get money for the rest of my course, I went to work in
the circulation department of the Evening Herald. Then my grandfather
died, and I went home for the funeral. There, the subject of my training
was discussed. Well, they all said it was just too bad; all except
my bachelor uncle Will who was a doctor and owned a drug store at
Fitzgerald. He made me a proposition to come and live with him,
work in his store in the summer, and go to school in winter.

"I finished at the University in 1916 and went back to Fitzgerald
to help Uncle Will. I felt that I could begin paying him back; and
at the same time be getting a little training as an intern.

"The Government solved the problem of accredited hospital internship,
because the World War came along and all young doctors were
admitted as first lieutenants in the Army. Some of them were given
full credit for internship, and I was one of the fortunate ones. I
spent two years in various camps, including some base camps and spike
camps. I've forgotten some of the camps now; but I had plenty of

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