Abstract
The following address was given by Dr. Cecil J. Watson at the Wm. J. Kerr Gold Headed Cane Lecture, University of California School of Medicine, on 9 June 1967. At this event on the eve of Commencement Day, the senior student who has been chosen by his classmates and by his professors in the Department of Medicine as the one who best exemplifies the qualities of a true physician is awarded a gold-headed cane.* This carries on the British tradition of a similar cane that was passed from physician to physician from 1689 to 1825. The original cane, which was carried successively by Doctors John Radcliffe, Richard Mead, Anthony Askew, David Pitcairn and Matthew Baillie, now rests in the Hall of the Royal College of Physicians in London.
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