Abstract
The following address was given at the Gold-Headed Cane Ceremony, University of California School of Medicine, on 3 June 1966. At this event on the eve of Commencement Day, the senior student who has been chosen by his classmates and professors in the Department of Medicine as the one who best exemplifies the qualities of a true physician is given a gold-headed cane. This carries on the English tradition of a cane which was passed from physician to physician from 1689 to 1825, and was carried successively by Drs. John Radcliffe, Richard Mead, Anthony Askew, David Pitcairn and Matthew Baillie. The original cane now rests in the Hall of the Royal College of Physicians in London.
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