Search for "history of medicine"

Sir William Osler, physician, writer, educator (born 12 July 1849 in Bond Head, Canada West [Ontario]; died 29 December 1919 in Oxford, England). Osler was a physician and professor of medicine who helped revolutionize medical education. He insisted that medical students spend less time in the lecture hall and more time with patients; he also developed the medical residency program. Osler was a prolific writer whose textbook, The Principles and Practice of Medicine (1892), was published in many editions. He was also a bibliophile and historian of medicine whose collection was donated to McGill University.

Charles Herbert Best, physiologist, co-discoverer of insulin (born 27 Feb 1899 in West Pembroke, Maine; died 31 Marh 1978 in Toronto, ON). Best is perhaps best known for his role in the discovery of insulin, a treatment for diabetes mellitus. He was posthumously inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2021.

The Federation of Medical Women of Canada (FMWC) is a national organization that connects and supports Canadian women in the medical profession. Founded in 1924, the Federation has advocated on behalf of women physicians and women’s health. (See also History of Medicine to 1950; Women and Health.)

Established in 1994, the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame (CMHF) is a national charitable organization. The mission of the CMHF is to “recognize and celebrate Canadian health leaders whose work has advanced health and inspires the pursuit of careers in the health sciences.” As of 2006, up to six individuals are inducted into the CMHF annually. Laureates are featured at the CMHF’s Exhibit Hall in London, Ontario, and online through the CMHF’s official website.

Mildred Vera Lobb (née Peters), OC, physician, radiation oncologist, researcher (born 28 April 1911 in Thistletown, ON; died 1 October 1993 in Toronto, ON). Known professionally as Dr. Vera Peters, she conducted groundbreaking research on Hodgkin’s disease, now known as Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and breast cancer, which led to changes in the way these diseases are treated. (See also Cancer; Breast Cancer Research in Canada.) Peters was also a pioneer of patient-centered care, which prioritizes patients in the decision-making process for medical treatment, and which is now the standard model in health care.

Alban Perrier, M.D. (born 10 January 1942 in Hemmingford, Quebec). A versatile, gifted physician, Dr. Perrier is the founder and President of the Polyclinique Médicale Concorde, established in 1973 in Laval, Quebec.

James Bertram Collip, biochemist, educator, co-discoverer of insulin (born 20 November 1892 in Belleville, ON; died 19 June 1965 in London, ON). Collip is perhaps best recognized for his work into endocrinological research. He was one of the first to isolate the parathyroid hormone. He also contributed to the discovery of insulin in 1922.

Childbirth is the beginning of a child’s life and a powerful rite of passage for the mother. Methods vary according to culture and time periods. Before the 19th century, Canadians relied mostly on the help of midwives, as well as prayers and even superstitions, to face the intense pains of contractions. Advances in the field of obstetrics in the 19th and 20th centuries introduced new ways of shortening the length of childbirth and managing its pains. Those developments also resulted in the transition of childbirth from homes to hospitals. Today, the different methods of childbirth can involve the help of physicians, midwives and doulas.

John James Rickard Macleod, physiologist, co-discoverer of insulin (born 6 September 1876 in Cluny, Scotland; died 16 March 1935 in Aberdeen, Scotland). John Macleod was a renowned physiologist and expert in carbohydrate metabolism, who is perhaps best known for his role in the discovery of insulin, a treatment for diabetes mellitus.

On the evening of 27 June 1918, while sailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Liverpool, England, the Canadian hospital ship Llandovery Castle was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat (U-86). Of the 258 crew and passengers, only 24 survived. Almost all the Canadian Army Medical Corps personnel were killed: six male officers, 64 enlisted men and 14 nursing sisters. Only one lifeboat escaped; the rest were either sucked under as the ship sank or attacked by the U-boat. The submarine’s officers were later charged with committing a war crime.

Henry Norman Bethune, surgeon, inventor, political activist (born 4 March 1890 in Gravenhurst, ON; died 12 November 1939 in Huang Shiko, China). Norman Bethune was an innovative thoracic surgeon who made significant contributions in the field, including the invention or redesign of surgical instruments. He was also an early advocate of universal health care in Canada. A member of the Communist Party, Bethune volunteered during the Spanish Civil War, where he pioneered the mobile blood transfusion unit. In 1938, he travelled to China, where he became a battlefield surgeon for Chinese Communist forces under Mao Zedong. Bethune’s commitment to the welfare of soldiers and civilians during the Sino-Japanese War made him a hero in the People's Republic of China.

Wilder Graves Penfield, OM, CC, FRS, FRSC neurosurgeon, scientist (born 26 January 1891 in Spokane, Washington; died 5 April 1976 in Montreal, QC). Dr. Penfield was the founder and first director of the Montreal Neurological Institute and established the "Montreal procedure" for the surgical treatment of epilepsy. (See also Neuroscience.)

Jennie Smillie Robertson, physician, surgeon and teacher (born 10 February 1878 in Huron County, ON; died 26 February 1981 in Toronto, ON). Smillie is considered the first recorded female surgeon to practise in Ontario. She also performed the first major gynecological surgery in Canada.

Click here for definitions of key terms used in this article.

Jacalyn Duffin, MD, FRCP, PhD, CM, hematologist and medical historian (born 9 June 1950 in Thorndale, Ontario). Duffin began her medical career as a hematologist and became a medical historian and professor of medical history. She is a champion of the medical humanities, an interdisciplinary field of study that explores the arts, humanities and social sciences as they relate to healthcare education and practice. She has published numerous books and articles in the field and was president of the American Association for the History of Medicine (AAHM) and the Canadian Society for the History of Medicine. Duffin received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the AAHM in 2019 and was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 2020.

James Miranda Steuart Barry, FRS (probably born Margaret Anne Bulkley), military surgeon, physician (born c. 1789–99; died 25 July 1865 in London, England). Posted across the British Empire, Barry reformed medical standards in the British army. His final and highest-ranking position was as inspector-general of military hospitals in the Province of Canada in the 1850s. After his death, it was reported that Barry’s assigned sex at birth was female. This has sparked significant debate about his identity.

Note on pronouns: This article refers to James Barry with masculine pronouns, as this was how Barry referred to himself throughout his life.

Sir Frederick Grant Banting, KBE, MC, FRS, FRSC, co-discoverer of insulin, medical scientist, painter (born 14 November 1891 in Alliston, ON; died 21 February 1941 near Musgrave Harbour, Newfoundland). Banting is best known as one of the scientists who discovered insulin in 1922. After this breakthrough, he became Canada’s first professor of medical research at the University of Toronto. Banting was also an accomplished amateur painter. As an artist, he had links to A.Y. Jackson and the Group of Seven.

Theodore George Gustavus Harwood Drake, physician, historian, collector (born 16 September 1891 in Webbwood, ON; died 28 October 1959 in Toronto, ON). Drake is perhaps best known for his contributions towards the development of the infant cereal, Pablum.

Anderson Ruffin Abbott, doctor, surgeon (born 7 April 1837 in Toronto, Upper Canada; died 29 December 1913 in Toronto, ON). Abbott was the first Canadian-born Black person to graduate from medical school. He served the Union army as a civilian surgeon during the American Civil War.

Wilfred Gordon Bigelow, OC, surgeon (born 18 June 1913 in Brandon, MB; died 27 March 2005 in Toronto, ON). Dr. Bigelow's special contribution to surgery of the heart was the use of hypothermia to slow tissue metabolism and protect the heart and brain from damage (see Cold Weather Injuries). His research on hypothermia also led to him to co-develop the portable artificial external cardiac pacemaker in 1950. This medical innovation contributed to the development of implantable cardiac pacemakers.

Elizabeth Catherine Bagshaw, physician (born 18 October 1881 near Cannington, ON; died 5 January 1982 in Hamilton, ON). Bagshaw had a successful 70-year medical practice, specializing in family medicine and obstetrics (see Childbirth in Canada). She is perhaps best known for her work as the medical director of Canada’s first birth control clinic in Hamilton, Ontario (see History of Birth Control in Canada).