A Humanist Neurosurgeon: A Legacy of Dr. Roy Selby

The article is dedicated to the life and work of Dr. Roy Selby (1930-2002), an American neurosurgeon who founded neurosurgery in Malaysia. Dr. Selby stayed in Malaysia from July 1963 to May 1970. He opened the first neurosurgical department at the general hospital in Kuala Lumpur and established a training program under which Malaysian physicians and nurses were sent to neurosurgery centers in the United States and Canada. Some physicians came back and headed local neurosurgical units. On his return to the United States, Dr. Selby practiced neurosurgery until 1986, when he had to give it up due to the impact of progressive congestive heart failure. From 1986 to 1994, Dr. Selby taught graduate courses in the Department of Psychology at East Texas State University, Texarkana, Texas. He was a pioneer of spinal surgery and founded the Lumbar Spine Society. Dr. Selby was a world citizen neurosurgeon and advocated international standards of training in neurosurgery. From 1985 to 1994, he was chairman of the Archives Committee of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. Dr. Selby serves as a model of a physician as a humanist.