 Dr. Alexander Stewart Monro, VGH surgeon, Canadian Medical Association President, 1930-1931 (wearing the CMA presidential badge)
(additional information here) To browse other articles on a range of HSL topics, see the wiki index.
Introduction
See also History of surgery in Canada
This pathfinder is a gathering place for materials supporting a project about the history of surgery in British Columbia since about the middle of the 19th century but more specifically a history leading up to and including the UBC surgery department from its early years of development in the 1940s up to the present day. However, keep in mind that many of these resources look beyond British Columbia to historical sources relevant to Canada, the United States and elsewhere.
For more information, please contact: dean.giustini@ubc.ca
Bibliographies
To search for articles in the historical literature before 1940, see NLM's IndexCat.
- "...contains a decided emphasis on Canadian medicine, which the author acknowledges ("...unapologetically aimed at Canadians..." p. 8). For example, we learn that the genetic hematologic disturbance, Christmas disease, is named after a five-year-old Canadian patient, Stephen Christmas. Each bibliography contains a separate section for Canadian resources. ...the broad scope of the book, combined with the author's enthusiasm and impressive scholarship, make it an excellent choice as a textbook for any history of Western medicine course, Canadian or not..."
General surgery websites
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- Historyofsurgery.ca is an online, open-access archive of Canadian surgery. Articles that have been published elsewhere are posted with the permission of the copyright holders. Citation should be made to the journal in which the articles were first published.
Surgeons in BC since 1800
Important but somewhat peripheral figures
Prominent figures
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- Dr. Alexander Stewart Monro (1872-1932) (photo above right)
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- A history of members of the medical profession in the province from 1778 to 1931
- McKechnie RE. Strong medicine: history of healing on the Northwest Coast. JJ Douglas Ltd, Vancouver, 1972.
Since 1950 & founding of UBC Faculty of Medicine
- joined VGH in 1948; served as Head of the Department of Surgery in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC and Chief of Surgery at Vancouver General Hospital from 1976 to 1981
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- Dr. A.D. Mackenzie 1959- (see page 2)
- Dr. Robert Cameron Harrison, 1966 -
 Surgical ward of Vancouver General Hospital, 190? - Dr. Frank Porter Patterson (1976 - 1981)
- Dr. Wally Chung (1981 - 1990)
- Dr. Madeline Chung - (1955, BC's first female obstetrician and gynecologist)
Other firsts
- Dr. Frank Turnball (first VGH brain surgeon 1933 - monograph);
- Dr. Austin B. Shinbein at UBC Shaughnessy Hospital (first known heart operation in BC, a pericardiectomy, 1933);
- Dr. Peter Lehmann (1st surgical Rx of Parkinson's in 60s);
- Dr. Ian Turnbull (stereotaxic framing for Parkinson's);
- Dr. Robert Langston, first in British Columbia to specialize in plastic surgery.
- in 1968, the first kidney transplant in British Columbia was performed at Vancouver General Hospital. (1)
- in 1988, the first heart transplant in BC was performed by Dr. Virginia Gudas at VGH (2) followed by liver and lung transplants in 1989
- in 1995, Dr. Nadine Caron, surgeon (first native woman to graduate from the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Medicine)
Selected articles & ephemera
To search for articles in the historical literature before 1940, see NLM's IndexCat.
- Andrews Margaret. Medical Attendance in Vancouver, 1886-1920. B.C. Studies 40 (Winter 1978/79): 32-56.
- Burr L. Some early history of cardiac surgery in British Columbia. https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/24721/1/Cardiac%20BC.pdf
- Clearihue J. Fort Victoria & Hudson's Bay Co doctors. B.C. Historical News. 1999 Jan;32(1):30-34.
- Davies MJ. Competent professionals and modern methods: state medicine in British Columbia during the 1930s. Bull Hist Med. 2002 Spring;76(1):56-83.
- Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online "William Fraser TOLMIE" http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=5873
- Gagan D, Gagan R. Evil reports for ignorant minds? Patient experience and public confidence in the emerging modern hospital: Vancouver General Hospital, 1912. Canadian Bulletin of Medical History 18 (2001): 349-367.
- Gunn SWA. George Elias Darby: 1889–1962. Can J Surg 1967;10:275-80.
- Harris RI. Fifty Years of Surgery: 1911-1961. Can Med Assoc J. 1961 January 7; 84(1): 11–20.
- Johnson AH. Surgery and surgical education on the Pacific Coast in the 19th century. Arch Surg. 1991 Oct;126(10):1180-1185.
- Jolly PC. History of the North Pacific Surgical Association. Am J Surg. 1991 May;161(5):542-4.
- Kidd GA. History of Vancouver Medical Association. Bull Vanc Med Assoc. 1947 Jan;23(4):86-8.
- McAlister VC. Origins of the Canadian school of surgery. Can J Surg. 2007 Oct;50(5):357-63.
- Meade EF. The biography of Dr. Samuel Campbell, R.N. : surgeon & surveyor, including the naming and early history of the Campbell River. Campbell River, BC: Meade, c1980.
- Mullally S, Wright D. La grande séduction?: the immigration of foreign-trained physicians to Canada, c. 1954–76. J Canadian Studies/Revue d'études canadiennes 41.3 (2007): 67-89.
- Munro AS. The medical history of British Columbia, the Canadian Medical Association Journal, 1931-1932.
- A history of members of the medical profession in the province from 1778 to 1931
Archives
- The British Columbia Surgical Society was organized in 1938 and incorporated in 1947. Its goal is to advance the science, practice and teaching of surgery. The society has accomplished this goal through scientific meetings, essay contests and scholarships. The society does not normally address economic issues, which are administered by the BCMA Section of General Surgery. The fonds consists of constitutional documents, minutes and agendas, financial records, membership applications and registers, operational files, and meeting programs of the British Columbia Surgical Society. Operational files include general correspondence, lists of Executive Committee members and honorary members, and records pertaining to bursaries/scholarships, the Royal Commission on Health Care and Costs, and annual Spring and Fall meetings.
- BC Medical Association (formerly Vancouver Medical Association)
- Founded in 1900, the BCMA's mandate is to promote a social, economic, and political climate in which members can provide the citizens of British Columbia with the highest standard of health care while achieving maximum professional satisfaction and fair economic reward.
- Robert McKechnie was a prominent B.C. physician who eventually became senior surgeon at Vancouver General Hospital. He also lectured in medical history at UBC. McKechnie wrote articles for medical journals and published a book about the history of medicine on the Northwest Coast. He also developed the British Columbia Place Names project. The fonds consists of index cards, engravings, notes, maps, printed material and documents from McKechnie's B.C. Place Names project. The fonds also includes forty engraved prints related to the project, illustrating British explorers or events in the 18th and 19th centuries and a map of Russian discoveries on the Northwest Coast (ca. 1780).
- Vancouver Archives - photographs
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Digital libraries (including medical libraries)
Selected monographs & theses
- Bryans F. The early years: history of the University of British Columbia Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 1950-1980. UBC Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 2005.
- Carswell S. The story of Lions Gate Hospital : the realization of a pioneer settlement's dream (1908-1980). West Vancouver, B.C. : K. Carlswell and S. Carswell, c1980.
- Cavers AS. Our school of nursing, 1899 to 1949. Vancouver, B.C.: Vancouver General Hospital, School of Nursing, 1949?.
- Foulkes RG. The Tofino General Hospital, 1935-1985: in celebration of a half century of service to the people of the west coast of Vancouver Island. [S.l. : s.n., 1986?].
- Gagan D. For Patients of Moderate Means. A Social History of the Voluntary Public General Hospital in Canada, 1890-1950. Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2002
- Herdman John. Patterns of practice of general surgeons in non-metropolitan British Columbia. M.Sc. dissertation, University of British Columbia, Canada, 1975.
- Hill Robert. Paediatrics in B.C. : a history, with particular emphasis on the UBC Academic Department. 1997
- Hospital on the hill: a history of Langley Memorial Hospital, 1948-1998. Langley, B.C.: Langley Memorial Hospital, c1997.
- Luxton D. Vancouver General Hospital, 100 Years of Care and Service. Vancouver: Vancouver Coastal Health, 2006.
- McKechnie RE. Strong medicine: history of healing on the Northwest Coast. JJ Douglas Ltd, Vancouver, 1972.
- Murphy, Herbert H. Royal Jubilee Hospital, Victoria, B.C., 1858-1958. Victoria, B.C. : Hebden Print. Co., [1958.]
- Patterson FP. The cutting edge : reminiscences of surgery at the Vancouver General Hospital and the University of British Columbia, 1915-1985. Vancouver: Hatzic Pub, c2000.
- Pound RW. Rocke Robertson: surgeon and shepherd of change.
- Rose TF. From shaman to modern medicine: a century of the healing arts in British Columbia. Victoria, 1972.
- Shephard, David A. E. The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, 1960-1980 : the pursuit of unity. Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, 1985.
- Turnbull FA. Operating on the frontier : memoirs of a pioneer Canadian neurosurgeon. Madeira Park, B.C.: Capilano Pub., c1995.
- Walton P. VGH story: a history of Vancouver General Hospital: a century of caring.
- Witter Du Gas B. The best damn school in the country: the Vancouver General Hospital School of Nursing, 1957-1965. Vancouver General Hospital. School of Nursing.
- Zilm Glennis. Legacy : history of nursing education at the University of British Columbia, 1919-1994. University of British Columbia School of Nursing, 1994.
Pre-1850 Period
"...In the nineteenth century, there was a distinct division between doctors and surgeons. The former dealt with medicine and were usually university educated. The latter generally did the actual "hands-on" work and were often considered little more than able craftsmen. They might have next to no education at all, although this varied widely. ..."
- Brown Debra J. The challenge of caring : a history of women and health care in British Columbia. Ministry of Health and Ministry Responsible for Seniors, 2000.
- Bryant J. American practice of surgery : a complete system of the science and art of surgery, by representative surgeons of the United States and Canada, November 1906
- Caniff W. The Medical profession in Upper Canada, 1783-1850 : an historical narrative with original documents relating to the profession, including some brief biographies.
- Caron WM. Early surgeons of Québec. Can J Surg. 1965;8:239-53.
- Delaney RJ. Dr. Robert Meredith Janes (1894–1966): Professor of Surgery, University of Toronto (1947–1957). Can J Surg. 1969;12:2-11.
- Desjardins E. [L. E. Desjardins (1837– 1919): one of the pioneers of ophthalmology in French Canada][article in French]. Can J Surg. 1969;12:165-9.
- Dupuytren G. Lectures on clinical surgery delivered in the Hotel-Dieu of Paris, by Baron Dupuytren, collected and published by an association of physicians. [Translated for the Register and Library of Medical and Chirurgical Science.) Washington: Duff Green; 1835.
- Harris CW. Abraham Groves of Fergus: the first elective appendectomy? Can J Surg. 1961;4:405-10.
- Heagerty JJ. Four Centuries of Canadian Medical History, v1. Toronto, ON: Macmillan Company of Canada Limited, 1928;179.
- Howell JD. Early use of x-ray machines and electrocardiographs at the Pennsylvania Hospital 1897 through 1927. JAMA. 1986;255(17):2320–2323.
- Macbeth RA. Canadian surgery during the French regime, 1608 to 1763. Can J Surg. 1977;20:71-82.
- MacDermot HE. History of Canadian surgery. George Edgeworth Fenwick (1825–1894). Can J Surg. 1968;11:1-4.
- Mitchell R. History of Canadian surgery. John Harrison O’Donnell, M.D. (1838–1912). Can J Surg. 1967;10:399-402.
- Scammell HL. History of Canadian surgery. John Stewart. Can J Surg. 1961;4:263-7.
- Shephard DA, Grogono BJ. An early 19th-century Canadian surgical practice: the casebook of John Mackieson of Charlottetown, 1795-1885. Can J Surg. 2002;45:147-52.
- Shephard DA. A light on medical practice in 19th-century Canada: the medical manuscripts of Dr. John Mackieson of Charlottetown. CMAJ. 1998;159(3):253-7.
- Shortt SE. Physicians, science, and status: issues in the professionalization of Anglo-American medicine in the nineteenth century. Med Hist. 1983;27(1):51–68.
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