The sea or saving lives
The life of Dr Eddie McCaig
DR Eddie Hansel McCaig says growing up in the Kuladrusi homestead in Savusavu during his formative years marks one of his favourite childhood memories.
He remembers vividly that life was spent in the outdoors and from a very young age, he grew up dreaming big dreams.
Eventually, he was sent to Suva to complete his education.
His father was a seaman and little Eddie dreamt of following in his footsteps.
He had notions of travelling the world on huge ships and visiting ports more exotic and bigger than the one in his hometown of Savusavu.
Little did he know that life was to take him down a very different path.
And while he did get to visit many cities across the world, it was not on ships but aeroplanes.
As his dream of pursuing a career as a seaman faded into oblivion, he became immersed in medical studies and eventually rose through the ranks to become a leading figure in Fiji’s medical profession — a position that he served with pride and great determination for more than 45 years.
Eddie’s world changed completely when he was offered a choice to take up medical studies by his family — and it was a hard one.
An exciting career battling waves on the sea versus battling to save lives — and he thought long and hard before he opted for the latter.
Eddie became Dr McCaig when he graduated from the Fiji School of Medicine in 1975.
He served at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in 1983 before moving to the Dunedin Hospital in New Zealand in 1985 and then to the Auckland Hospital from 1988 to 1989.
During these years Dr McCaig managed to complete his fellowship in surgery at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1989, despite his hectic work schedule and commitments in Fiji and New Zealand.
In 1992, he returned to Fiji as a consultant and joined the Lautoka Hospital as the medical superintendent and in 2001 he received the Officer of the Order of Fiji in recognition of community contribution to the medical field in Fiji.
Dr McCaig spent many years there before returning to FSM as the acting Dean in 2005 and also as the head of the Department of Surgery.
In 2015, Dr McCaig became the first Pacific Islander to be awarded with the ESR Hughes Medal award during the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons congress in Perth for his outstanding contribution to surgical education in the Pacific.
The Australasian College of Surgeons described Dr McCaig as a ‘worthy recipient of the award for services to surgery and surgical education and training. He has been the pre-eminent leader of postgraduate surgical education in the Pacific since 1998 when the Fiji School of Medicine began its Diploma and MMed Surgery programs’.
He is also president of the Pacific Islands Surgeons Association, a post he has served with honour.
Like every other islander, Dr McCaig had a passion for sports, representing Fiji four times at the Olympic Games, Rugby World Cups and Rugby League World Cup as team doctor for the Fiji Rugby Union and Rugby League from 2007 to 2013.
Dr McCaig also contributed towards the development of sports within the medical field in the South Pacific region, always encouraging sporting activities as a form of socialisation for doctors who had a busy schedule.
He was the professor of surgery at the Fiji School of Medicine Sciences of College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, a position he had retired from last year.
Looking back on a long and illustrious career, the Savusavu native says he has “seen and done it all” and “achieved and done it all” adding it was now time for him to take a rest and spend time with his family.
“I sit back with pride and I see things are going to continue well with the college from a surgical point of view,” he said.
“One of our recent graduates from Timor is now the head of surgery there which has a population of 1.3 million people and this means I can now retire with a whole lot of satisfaction.
“There is no other feeling in this world like having people walk up to me and introduce themselves as students that I had taught, it is like watching the product of your creation bloom and achieve their destiny.
“If there is one thing I am going to miss, it is teaching and ensuring that students get things right because I believe that the school is the platform where their foundation is built — determining their future.”
Dr McCaig said after a career spanning four and a half decades where others were always at the forefront, it was now time for him to focus his attention on his “beloved wife” and peer Dr Tauta McCaig.
Together they have two sons and grandchildren who he looks forward to spending time with.
While describing his father at a farewell event held recently in Lami, Dr McCaig’s younger son Dr Vaigalo, who is an orthopedic surgeon at the Lautoka Hospital, said his father was the “scariest person” at the Fiji School of Medicine.
Dr Vaigalo said his stern voice and ‘mean business’ face would freeze even the most confident student in the room.
However, at home, Dr Vaigalo said his father was a family man who always prioritised the wellbeing of his loved ones.
“He will retire to spend time with his grandchildren whom he loves the most because they certainly changed his life when they came into this world,” he said.