brand of musculo-skeletal medicine until at least March, the man searching for his replacement said yesterday.

Dr. Steven Trott, who was asked by the Bermuda Medical Society to find a replacement for Dr. Moore after it received scores of angry letters from patients who depended on his practice for treatment, told The Royal Gazette last night that the Irishman has been retained for some three months longer than originally expected.

Dr. Moore, who also has a practice in Dublin, was due to leave Bermuda at the end of December after running the Island's only full-time musculo-skeletal practice for the past three years.

Last month, the Medical Society resolved that it would not renew Dr. Moore's work permit and would consequently close down the practice, a decision that prompted dozens of patients to protest the loss of one of two doctors who performed the kind of skeletal manipulations they said relieved their pain.

Society members changed their minds when dozens of letters poured in. "I was asked about a week ago to find a replacement because they were getting a lot of letters in support of the practice,'' Dr. Trott said yesterday. "At the same time, I don't think the Society wanted to be responsible for (the new doctor's) work permit. They wanted to give it to someone in the same business.'' Montreal-trained Dr. Trott is a Bermudian orthopaedist who recently returned to Bermuda after practising in Connecticut.

When asked about his hunt for Dr. Moore's replacement, he said: "I have some possibilities in mind. It should be a smooth transition.'' At the end of March, Dr. Moore will take up a residency at the prestigious Lahey Clinic near Boston. The Lahey is one of the foremost diagnostic facilities in the world.