Part I Doctors, Celebrated and Unsung

Any study of Canadian medical history must begin with the two most celebrated nineteenth century Canadian doctors - Sir William Osler and Dr. Emily Stowe. Osler recast the practice of medicine by going to the patient's bedside and blending the science of medicine with the art of healing. Stowe challenged the assumption that medicine was a man's career. Traditionally, women have always played a role in healing as midwives, nurses, or family caretakers. Overcoming tremendous obstacles, Stowe was the first Canadian woman to practice medicine in Canada. Many other less renowned physicians practised medicine in the rural and frontier areas of Canada, bringing new treatments and therapies to their patients while facing challenges of travel, weather, and professional isolation.

The Doctor's Doctor: Sir William Osler

In the nineteenth century, one of the most famous physicians in the world was a Canadian - Sir William Osler (1849-1919). During the course of his professional career, Osler worked in three countries - Canada, the United States and England - all of which claim him as their own. While it is undisputed that Osler was a brilliant, innovative physician and teacher, adored by his students and patients, he did not make any great medical discovery. It was the way he practiced medicine and taught medicine that was so remarkable. He wrote the first great textbook of modern medicine, The Principles and Practice of Medicine, first issued in 1892 with many revised editions thereafter.

Osler was born in the backwoods of Canada in Bond Head, Ontario (north of Toronto) in 1849. He was the eighth of nine children. His father, Featherstone Osler, was an Anglican minister who for over twenty years was a successful frontier parson. Young William Osler attended various private Anglican schools before registering at the University of Toronto for undergraduate studies. It was here that Osler became engrossed in science and nature. He decided to become a physician.

In 1870, Osler enrolled in medical school at McGill University. He had chosen well; it was the best medical training that Canada had to offer at the time. McGill University provided better facilities, hospital access, and higher standards than most other institutions in North America. Osler studied medicine in earnest. He was interested in the nature of disease, its pathology, its origins, its progression. His quest for better understanding of these issues took him to London, Berlin and Vienna to further study medicine before he returned to McGill's medical faculty as a lecturer on medicine and pathology.

In 1884, Osler moved to the United States. He joined the medical faculty at the University of Pennsylvania. Five years later, he moved to Baltimore where he would be instrumental in shaping the new Johns Hopkins University medical program. Osler worked towards creating and maintaining the best possible medical school and hospital. He succeeded in bringing higher standards and scientific methods into general practice, improving both the training of future doctors and the care of patients. Johns Hopkins Medical School became an elite center of medical education in North America. Osler's reputation as a teacher, medical physician, and author continued to grow, drawing many Canadians as well as Americans to Baltimore to work with the great doctor. But what did they learn from Osler that was so different?

Osler brought the students to the bedside of their patients. This was where students were to learn "doctoring" - by seeing patients - inspecting, touching, listening to the patient. His study of various aspects of science such as bacteriology and physiology lent better understanding to the internal workings of the body. This he combined with the art of healing and treating people. Osler's skill at diagnosing illness came from applying to the conditions of his sick patients his vast knowledge of the science and pathology of disease. He instilled confidence in and gave comfort to all his patients. When colleagues and students fell ill, it was Osler they chose as their physician. Osler was the doctor's doctor.

Osler was a great doctor because of his humanity and skill as a physician and the impact he had on medical education and the training of future doctors. He practised medicine at the bedside of his patients and taught others to do likewise. He made no great discoveries in the lab, but instead applied the breakthroughs of others and the new knowledge of disease and science to his cases. He practiced modern medicine, blending the science of medicine and its increasing new findings with the art of healing and treating patients.