A generous gift from Vermont surgeon and University of Vermont College of Medicine alumnus H. Gordon Page, M.D., has established an endowed faculty position in the Department of Surgery. Named in honor of a Burlington surgeon who was Page’s mentor, the Albert G. Mackay, M.D.’32 and H. Gordon Page, M.D.’45 Endowment in Surgical Education will support the Mackay-Page Professorship. A bequest from Page’s future estate will establish the Mackay-Page Chair in Surgical Education. In total, the endowment will include at least $2 million to support the education of aspiring surgeons.

“The College of Medicine has a long history of pioneers and great teachers, with Dr. Page among them,” said Steven R. Shackford, M.D., Stanley S. Fieber Professor and Chairman of Surgery. “Dr. Page has been a steadfast supporter of the College and the Department of Surgery, and his generous gift will create a legacy to continue the tradition of mentorship for those who are learning the discipline today.”

Page honors his mentor Dr. Albert Mackay with the jointly-named endowment, and the legacy of mentorship continues with the naming of James Hebert, M.D., as the first Mackay-Page Professor of Surgery. Hebert, a College of Medicine alumnus mentored by Page, graduated from the UVM College of Medicine in 1977 and is currently Professor of Surgery and associate dean for graduate medical education.

“As a student and resident, I looked to Dr. Page for guidance due to his outstanding clinical judgment and manner with patients,” said Hebert. “He taught students the art of surgery – how to use clinical skills to problem-solve efficiently – before all of the technology used today was available.”

Hebert plans to use the funds for educational efforts such as a surgical skills laboratory and simulation center that will help students and residents practice performing surgery before they get to the operating room, as well as gain other critical skills.

“It is especially gratifying for us to have a major gift like this come from a member of the College of Medicine family,” said UVM College of Medicine Dean John N. Evans. “Dr. Page, like Dr. Mackay before him, believed in the power of education and mentorship and invested much of his career developing caring, compassionate physicians. I look forward to Dr. Hebert continuing this important legacy for our students and residents.”

Page, a South Burlington resident and native of Groton, Vermont, earned an undergraduate degree in 1940 from UVM before going on to earn his M.D. from the UVM College of Medicine in 1945. He served his internship and residency at the former Mary Fletcher Hospital in Burlington. After serving as a U.S. Army Surgeon during the Korean conflict, Page returned to Vermont and practiced general surgery on the medical staff of the Medical Center Hospital of Vermont, now Fletcher Allen Health Care, and served as a professor of surgery at the College of Medicine, retiring in 1991. A long-time supporter of the College of Medicine, Page had previously endowed the H. Gordon Page Award in Surgery and, more recently, the Albert G. Mackay, M.D.’32 and H. Gordon Page, M.D.’45 Surgery Lectureship.

A native of Peacham, Vermont, Mackay was also a UVM undergraduate and College of Medicine alumnus. Appointed professor and chair of surgery and surgeon-in-chief at Mary Fletcher Hospital in 1942, Mackay was renowned not only for his technical skill, but also for his compassion toward his patients. He retired in 1969 and passed away in 1978.