Winter 2018 Special Feature

I was very sad to hear of the passing of Professor Ken Hill.  As a new very young faculty member in the School when I began my career, Ken was like a father figure to me.  For those who knew him he always had a smile on his face and was a nice and very kind man.  I have fond memories of Ken and I will share a few which you may or may not know.  One was the size of Ken’s lunch bag, I referred to it as the “Lunch Suit Case”.  It was packed by his wife Hazel with lots of healthy food, which Ken ate all of it.  Given that he was a man of relatively slight stature this always amazed me.  However Ken was always on the go and was very high energy.  Ken lived near Truro but was always the first one at work, even in a blizzard.  This was particularly distressing since I at the time lived within a block of the University.  This brings me to another memory of Ken, which goes back to my first time in Ken’s car when he gave me a ride to a meeting somewhere in the city.  After buckling up and holding on, I thought that if he did not choose Physiotherapy perhaps Ken would have been a formula 401 race car driver. However I believe we are all happy that he did not go that route as he was highly dedicated to his students, thoroughly enjoyed teaching and he always conducted himself in a professional and caring manner in all of his interactions. 

I started teaching as a master’s degree student and Ken was my mentor. As such, during my first lecture, he sat in the back of the room to assess and give me feedback. After providing me with words of encouragement about my teaching, he asked me to take a look at the blackboard to see what I had written. I then realized that I had written in blue chalk, and although none of the students commented, the written words were barely legible when viewed from the back of the room. I never used blue chalk again!

I remember Ken’s gentle, kind demeanour which did not lead you to suspect that he was a wild man behind the wheel.  He offered to give me a ride to the airport which had me holding on to my seat for dear life. I asked him to promise that, should I ask him for a lift ever again, to firmly say “no”.  Speeding seemed to be so unlike him.

Ken was very particular about how things, such as plinths, tables, even scissors, were arranged in his electrotherapy room; he set it up with military precision. When I used his room, things were moved about. This disconcerted Ken to the point where he marked things with tape so that plinths could be put back in exactly the right place.  Good training for the students, hard on me.  That was Ken Hill, one of the best teachers, a great physiotherapist and a great mentor.

Our Dal PT Class of 1977 regarded "Mr. Hill" as nothing less than an archangel. He was meticulous in his professional and personal decorum - a true role model to a group of 17 young, impressionable, physiotherapy students. He exuded passion for his profession, family, faith and teaching. Later, as a new faculty member in the Dal School of Physiotherapy, I was reassured to sense the same warmth from 'Ken' as I had experienced as a student. One of my most cherished memories as a physiotherapist was the moment Ken and his wife, Hazel, entered an auditorium in Whistler, BC in 2011 to hear my Enid Graham Address. When I expressed my surprise and joy, he responded, "I wouldn't have missed this occasion for the world". This memory continues to bring a smile to my face and tears to my eyes. Thanks for everything, Ken. We miss you.

I will never forget my final practical exam in Electrotherapy with Mr. Hill. As he and I examined the technique I was performing, another student came over to tell us "Excuse me, but the plinth is on fire". He and I had become so focused on what we were doing we did not even notice the smoke curling up to the ceiling! I still passed the course - and PT school (nice of him). That was Mr. Hill - enthusiastic, focused, and kind.

My memories of Mr. Hill (later Dr. Hill honorary Doctorate), initially at physio school, was this kind and enthusiastic professor who seemed to be a physiotherapist 24/7. One eventually gets to know more about faculty and of course Mr. Hill had his family and a life outside of the School.
 
Mr. Hill also instructed and tutored students when he visited us during clinical placements. To this day, I remember his gentle coaching, his corrections provided so as not to undermine the patient's confidence and which bolstered my beginner's tenuous confidence.

Years later, Mr. Hill came to the Nova Scotia Rehab Centre to solicit donations of redundant equipment in preparation for his first trip to Kenya to open a physiotherapy clinic. I was again struck by his passion, his planning and his practicality. Of course old sand-bag weights would be useful, no problem if they were leaky, they would be emptied to minimize weight and space for transportation, then repaired and refilled in Kenya. A little ingenuity and old canes would be repaired; slings and springs in limited use here would be excellent in the new clinic. Standing in the equipment room discussing the Kenyan clinic plan, the teach-the -teacher model, I was again struck by Mr. Hill's belief in physiotherapy, his love of teaching  and sense of responsibility to others. He had a profound impact on the way I view and practice physiotherapy.

He was so influential in the early days of physiotherapy practice in Nova Scotia - he set a tone of professionalism, professional responsibility, commitment and compassion that I believe has endured.