Dr. John H. Mercieca D.D.S., D.Sc. (Honoris Causa)

Abstract

Born in Floriana, Dr. John H. Mercieca received his secondary education at the Lyceum, from where he matriculated in 1930 as a student of the University and in 1937 graduated as one of the seven students who had completed the First Course of Dental Surgery every held at the University of Malta, being placed first in order of merit. After a period of housemanship at the Government Dental Clinic attached to the Council Civil Hospital, Dr. Mercieca set himself in private practice, but, in 1940, at the outbreak of hostilities in Malta, he volunteered to take charge of the Dental Clinic set up in the Attard-Lija-Balzan district, to care for the needs of the hundreds of refugees who had flocked to the centre of the island, from the Cottonera and outlying districts, which post he held until June 1941 when he joined the Army Dental Corps in the rank of Lieutenant. A year later he was promoted to the rank of Captain and was attached to the 161 Field Ambulance R.A.M.C. Early in 1942 he underwent a Course in General Anaesthesia, under the Senior Anaesthetist Major Buckley at the 90 General Hospital (Mtarfa) where he served for nearly a year. [excerpt]