Joseph Cooke Verco

Sir Joseph Cooke Verco (1 August 1851 – 26 July 1933) was an Australian physician and conchologist.

Verco, born at Fullarton, South Australia, was a son of James Crabb Verco. Both his parents came from Cornwall, UK. He was educated at the J. L. Young's Adelaide Educational Institution, and after spending a year in the South Australian Railways, intending to become a civil engineer, he decided to take up medicine. As he wished to matriculate at the University of London, he found it necessary to do more work in classics and spent a year at St Peter's College, Adelaide for this purpose. At that school he won the Young exhibition, awarded to the best scholar of the year, and then went to London at the beginning of 1870. He obtained his M.R.C.S. in 1874; M.B. in 1875, with scholarship and the gold medals for forensic medicine and medicine; L.R.C.P. in 1875; B.S., with scholarship and gold medal; M.D.; and F.R.C.S. – all in London in 1876. Verco was one of the most brilliant students of his time and a successful career in London was open to him.

Verco was appointed house physician at St Bartholomew's hospital in 1876, and midwifery assistant in 1877. In 1878 he returned to Adelaide. After a few years of general practice at Adelaide, Verco became recognized as its leading physician, and led a very busy life. From 1882 to 1912 he was honorary physician to the Adelaide hospital, and then honorary consulting physician. In 1898, Samuel Barbour sold his X-ray apparatus for £120 to Verco. He was for several years honorary physician to the Adelaide Children's hospital. He was lecturer in medicine at the University of Adelaide from 1887 to 1915, President of the Adelaide Medical Students' Society in 1904 and 1906–1915, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine 1919-21, and subsequently Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry. He was a member of the council of the University from 1895 to 1902 and 1919 to 1933. He was president of the South Australian branch of the British Medical Association in 1886-7 and 1914-19. For some years before his retirement from practice in 1919, he specialized in consultative work as a physician. He did not do much writing on medical subjects, but with E. C. Stirling wrote the article on hydatid disease in Allbutt's System of Medicine. "This not only collated the early literature, but was illuminated by the authors' personal experience of cases and at the time was recognized as a classic presentation of the subject".

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