Name: Ian Rechtman
Qualifications:
MB BS, University of Melbourne (1962)
FANZCA, 1992 (FFARACS, 1967)
Date of Birth: 31 August 1939
Ian Rechtman was born in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1939. After completion of his formal schooling he attended the University of Melbourne, graduating MB BSin 1962. He then continued his medical training in anaesthesia, gaining Fellowship of the Faculty of Anaesthetists at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons by examination in 1967. He was elected to the Board of the Faculty in 1991 and was a member of the inaugural Council of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists in 1992.
Can you add any details to this biography?
If so, complete the Contributor Form.
Ian Rechtman was born on 31 August 1939 in Melbourne, Victoria. The son of Polish Jewish immigrants who had arrived in Australia in 1938. He was born the day before the German army invaded Poland, sparking off World War II.
His primary education was undertaken at Princes Hill State School and he attended Northcote High School for secondary. On completion of his secondary education, he enrolled in medicine at the University of Melbourne, graduating MB BS in 1962.
Following graduation, he spent a year as the junior Resident Medical Officer (RMO) at Footscray and District Hospital in 1963. In 1964 he took up the position of anaesthetic registrar at the Austin Hospital and, in 1965, was appointed to the Alfred Hospital by Robert Orton. This was the beginning of a 45 year professional association with the hospital.
Rechtman sat his Part 1 exam in 1966 and, in 1967, sat the Part 2 exam. Dr Tess Brophy (later Prof Tess Cramond) and Prof Douglas Joseph were his examiners, both of whom would go on to hold the position of Dean of the Faculty of Anaesthetists. For six years, Rechtman was also a Part 2 examiner.
In 1969, as well as his work at the Alfred Hospital, he joined the Victorian Anaesthetic Group, until his retirement in 2005.
He was also appointed Visiting Medical Officer at the Footscray & District Hospital from 1975 and, in the same year, inaugural Director of Intensive Care. He was also appointed to the Victorian Regional Committee of the Faculty of Anaesthetists in 1975 and served on the Committee for 13 years.
During the 1980s, Rechtman expanded his professional interests with the Royal Australian Air Force Specialist Reserves, serving three one-month terms as an anaesthetist at RAAF Base Butterworth and at RAAF Base Laverton.
In 1991, Rechtman was elected to the Board of the Faculty of Anaesthetists. As a result, he was on the Board as it transitioned out of its status as a Faculty and into its new incarnation as the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists. He served on the Council until 2001, and during this time was heavily involved in locating the heritage-listed Ulimaroa as the headquarters for the newly formed College. He received the ANZCA Medal for outstanding contributions to the College in 2002.
Dr Ian Rechtman retired from practice in 2010 and continues to live in Melbourne with his wife, Mary, whom he married in 1960.
REFERENCES
The information in these biographies has been researched via the ANZCA Archives with the assistance of the individual Fellows.
IMAGES
- Ian Rechtman, 1992