40 years in medicine not enough for Camarillo doctor
By Eliav Appelbaum eliav@theacorn.com

IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers ISLAND MEMORIES- Dr. Michael Williams and a friend take a break from work on the island of St. Lucia in the West Indies in the 1970s.

Dr. Michael E. Williams grew up in the world of medicine: His father was a general practitioner, and his mother was a nurse.

Williams, who will turn 69 later this month, has practiced or studied medicine for more than 40 years, and he continues to work as a general surgeon at Anacapa Surgical Associates, a surgery clinic which is affiliated with Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura. The surgeon also reviews cases for Blue Cross in Newbury Park. As a general surgeon, Williams' focus is on abdominal organs.

The longtime Camarillo resident, who worked as a surgeon for the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War, will talk about his career during a breakfast meeting at 8 a.m. Sat., April 12 in Camarillo United Methodist Church's Brooks Hall.

"I can't see myself retiring," Williams said. "I enjoy getting out and around. I'm not a woodworker or an artist, so I'll keep working as long as they let me."

IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers LIKE A COUNTRY DOCTOR- Dr. Michael Williams used this old doctor's bag as a practicing surgeon.

Born in Ventura, Williams moved to Camarillo in 1951 and graduated from Oxnard High School in 1957. He went to medical school at the University of Southern California and then spent one year as an intern before beginning his four-year residency at Los Angeles County General Hospital.

When he was called into the Navy in 1968, after having been deferred from the draft to finish his education, Williams spent part of his first year at Port Hueneme before moving to Oakland for two years to finish his residency at a naval hospital there. The general surgeon then worked another two years at a naval hospital in Bremerton, Wash.

When he left the Navy in 1973, Williams felt he wasn't ready to go into private practice, so he decided to take his family, a wife and three children, to a missionary hospital in St. Lucia, a Caribbean island.

"I didn't have much stuff. I had old-fashioned equipment donated from hospitals and doctors over the years," he said. "I had to dig my books out on how to do stuff."

For instance, Williams had to read about how to perform a tonsillectomy before doing the surgery.

Because St. Lucia was a tourist destination, Williams had to stay focused. "It was a constant party," the surgeon said. "You had to be careful because it was a vacation island."

The experience helped make him a better surgeon, he said.

"I didn't have the most modern of drugs, but I took what I had and used what I could," Williams said. "It helped me to adapt to circumstances that weren't quite as perfect as I would have liked them. And it also convinced me that doctors are half scientists, half magicians. There's a lot of magic in medicine because you're dealing with people. . . . You have to listen to them."

Williams moved back to Camarillo in 1975, working at St. John's Pleasant Valley Hospital until 1994. After that, he started working at the Ventura County hospital.

Williams has been married to his wife, Evelyn, for 15 years and is a member of the United Methodist Church's choir. He also enjoys body surfing, hiking, reading and traveling.

For Williams, the most important element of being a surgeon is helping people.

"I enjoy taking care of people who are injured," he said. "There's excitement in helping someone who might die if you didn't do a good job on them. . . . There's no single highlight- the whole thing has been a lot of ups and downs."

Camarillo United Methodist Church is at 291 Anacapa Drive. There is a suggested donation of $4 for the breakfast.

For more information, call (805) 482-4312.