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Medical professionals |
   
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Dentists
Back |
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Hélène L. Shingles. |
Born August 12, 1917. A retired dentist,
Hélène started to volunteer for Meals-on-Wheels to bring food the people who were
ill or older and unable to cook for themselves. She noticed many meals went uneaten. She found out that his was because of dental problems. She
founded a charitable Dental Health Centre to help out.
Her dedication and service of others has not gone unnoticed. Dental association,
her home city, her home province have honoured her. He is a Member of the Order
of Canada. This polish immigrant has truly honoured her Canadian citizenship.
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C. L. Josephine Wells. |
The first woman to graduate and gain certification from the Royal College of
Dental Surgeons in 1893. Dr. Wells was a distinguished practitioner for 36
years. She was the first dentist in Canada to work entirely in hospital
dentistry. |
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Nurses Back |
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Margaret Allemang |
Born Toronto, Ontario July 19, 1914. Died
April 14, 2005. Chronic illness as a child made her formal education a
longer process than for most people. However she was not deterred and
at 22 she entered the School for Nursing at the University of Toronto. She
began her working career at the Toronto General Hospital and then
volunteered for service during World War ll. After the war she took
advantage of educational opportunities for veterans and returned to
university studies at U of T to earn a BA and B.Sc in Nursing. She became a
teacher of nursing science at Belleville General Hospital. In 1951 she
returned to teach at the School of Nursing at U of T. She continued her
personal post graduate studies at the University of Washington in Seattle,
U.S.A. Her thesis was on nursing history. It was the beginning of a lifetime
interest in all things historic and nursing. She interviewed nursing sisters
from both world wars. She collected stories, photos, uniforms and all sorts
of memorabilia. In 1987 she and Barbara Keddy of Dalhousie University
inaugurated the Canadian Association for the History of Nursing. She was
also a kingpin of the Ontario Society of the History of Nursing incorporated
in 1993 as the Margaret M. Allemang Centre for History of Nursing.
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|
Constance Eleda Brewster |
Born
Brantford, Ontario September 27, 1888. Died
July 4, 1988.
After completing her studies at the
University of
Toronto,
Constance taught school in Saskatchewan. She took additional studies in
nursing at the Royal
Victoria
Hospital
at McGill University and began working in Hamilton, Ontario in 1925. From
1934 through 1953 she was Director of the
School
of Nursing at the Hamilton General Hospital. During her career she improved
working conditions, strove for shorter working hours, better accommodations
and fought for a higher rate of pay for the nurses under her charge. She
also served as President of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario
from 1938-1940. |
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Marjorie Brook |
née Buck. Born
Port Rowan,
Ontario
1898. Died
April 5, 1988. A talented hospital administrator she took her
early nursing training in the
United States.
She became the first Superintendent of the
Norfolk General
Hospital in Simcoe, Ontario in 1925 and remained in the position until 1943.
She was an active member national nursing organizations, the I.O.D.E., the
University Women’s Club and the Norfolk Historical Society. |
|
Phyllis Burgess |
Born
Saskatchewan 1917. Died
November 9, 1988. Between 1957-1977 she was the Director of
Nursing at the
Princess
Margaret Hospital in Toronto, Ontario. She was internationally renownd for
developing nursing strategies for the treatment of cancer patients. She
would pioneer programs to meet physical and emotion needs of the hospital’s
cancer patients. For her contribution to oncological nursing she was
presented with the Civic Award of Merit from the city of Toronto. She
would also serve on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Cancer Society of
Ontario for 2o years. In 1988 she was awarded the Volunteer of the Year
Award from the Canadian Women’s Breast Cancer Foundation. |
|
Margaret Amelia Campbell |
Born Vancouver, British Columbia June 27,
1923. Died January 29, 1992. She earned her BA at the University of British
Columbia in 1947 and then earned a second BA Sc in Nursing in 1948.
She would follower her studies with a Masters in Science in Nursing at
Western Reserve University in 1955 and return to again study to earn her
Education Doctorate at Columbia University in 1970. She was the co-developer
of conceptual modesl for nursing. In 1987 she was recognized for her
research efforts with the Award of Excellence from the Registered Nurses
Association of British Columbia. She was also the recipient of an Award of
Distinction from the nursing division of the Alumni Association of the
University of British Columbia in 1988 and in 1990 a Certificate of Merit.
She was an instructor and professor of nursing at the UBC School of Nursing
from 1955 through 1988. |
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Agnes Dennis. |
(née Miller). Born Truro,
Nova Scotia April 11, 1859. Died April 21, 1949. President of the Victoria
Order of Nurses (1901 - 1946) and the Halifax Council of Women (1906 - 1920)
she mobilized women in World War I for the Red Cross for which she was also
President at the provincial level (1914-1920). She also helped co-ordinate
relief efforts for the Halifax Explosion of 1917. Even with all this work
she found time to raise ten children of her own!
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Alice M. Gerard. |
Born
November 11, 1907. A public health nurse she would develop into a leading
nursing educator. Dean of the Faculty of Nursing at the Université de
Montréal she was the first Canadian woman dean at a French language
university. She served as president of the Canadian Nurses Association and
was the first Canadian president of the International Council of Nurses. |
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Ethel Johns |
Born England 1879. Died September 2, 1968. Her family
emigrated to Canada and family friend, Cora Hind, encouraged the girl
to graduate in 1902 from the Winnipeg General Hospital Training School for
Nurses. After working in several provinces and in the U.S. she attended
Teachers College at Columbia University in New York City before returning to
Canada in 1915 as superintendent of the Children's Hospital, Winnipeg. In
1919 she was appointed to the dual position of director of nursing service
and education of the Vancouver General Hospital and coordinator of the newly
established program in Nursing at the University of British Columbia.
In 1925 she left for Europe to work for the Rockefeller Foundation,
establishing training programs and schools of nursing. In 1933 to 1944
she worked as editor and business manager of the Canadian Nurse
magazine. After retirement, she collaborated in writing a history of Johns
Hopkins School of Nursing, a series of health pamphlet and the history of
the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing. |
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Hugette Labelle. |
(née Rochon). Born April 15,
1939. This nursing teacher was one of the few women of her generation to
achieve senior administrative status with the federal government. She was
appointed to nursing's highest administrative position as principal nursing
officer at Health and Welfare Canada in 1973. She became under secretary of
state in 1988 and Deputy Clerk of Privy Council in 1985. |
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Jeanne Mance |
Baptised Langres, France
November 12, 1606 Died June 18, 1673. As a young reader she had enjoyed the
Jesuit Relations, published reports of priests in the new world and thus she
became interested in foreign missions, Jeanne joined the Société Notre-Dame
de Montréal. She sailed as the first lay nurse for New France May 9, 1641
and founded a hospital in 1642. The first hospital in New France, the
Hotel-Dieu Hospital of Montreal was completed by 1645. She would return to
France twice , in 1645 and 1657 to attain additional financial support for
her work in Montreal. |
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Rena Maude McLean. |
Born Souris,
Prince Edward Island June 14, 1879. Died June 27, 1918. Her nickname was
'Bird'. She graduated Halifax Ladies College and then studied nursing in the
U.S. She enlisted in the Canadian Medical Corps in 1914. She died in
service at sea in 1918. The FIVE SISTERS window in York Minister England, is
dedicated to the 3,000 women of the Empire who sacrificed their lives in WW
I. Her name is included.
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Helen K. Mussallem |
Born Prince Rupert, British Columbia. She
served as a Lieutenant nursing officer with the Royal Canadian Army Medical
Corps during World War ll. Her post war career began at the Vancouver
Hospital and would take her on some 30 international assignments with the
World Health Organization of the United Nations and the International
Council of Nurses. She was also executive Director of the
Canadian Nurse's Association and president of the Victoria Order of Nurses.
She is author of numerous major publications relating to nursing and health
and the library at the Canadian Nurse's Association is named in her honour.
In 1969 she received the Order of Canada and in 1981 she received one of the
highest awards of the International Red Cross, the Florence Nightingale
Award. At that time she was referred to a "Canada's most distinguished
nurse in her time and generation." |
Mona Parsons
(see also Heroines) |
Born
February 17, 1901. Died 1976. She pursued life on stage until her mother
became ill. After taking care of her ill mother she turned to nursing as a
profession. In 1938 she married Willem Leonhardt, a Dutch businessman.
During WW ll their home in The Netherlands was used as a refuge by escaping
allied airmen. In 1941 they were arrested and imprisoned in separate
prisons. Reunited after the liberation, Mona nursed Willem returning to
Canada only after his death in 1956. Mona was presented with citations from
General Eisenhower and Air Chief Marshal Tedder of the Royal Air Force for
helping allied airmen evade enemy capture. |
|
Georgina Fane Pope |
Born
Charlottetown,
Prince Edward Island 1862. Died June 6, 1938. She graduated from the
Bellevue Hospital School of Nursing, in
New York.
and served in various administrative positions at hospitals in the US. With
the Canadian involvement in the South African War , she volunteered for
nursing services with the British forces in October 1899. In fact she headed
the first group of four Canadian nurses. In 1902 she returned to South
Africa , leading a small nursing force, the third such group, but this time
they were officially the Canadian Army Nursing Service, a part of the
Canadian Army Medical Corp. In 1903 she was the first Canadian to receive
the Royal Red Cross for conspicuous service in the field of battle.
By 1906 she was working with the permanent forces at
Halifax and in 1908 she became the first Matron of the Canadian Army Medical
Corp. She served in World War I in 1917 -1918. In 1983 Canada’s
National Historical Sites and Monument Board declared her a National
Historic Person of Canada. |
|
Dorothy "Dot" Pringle. |
Born Hamilton, Ontario. This inspirational nursing leader has
followed a career that took her through nursing research, teaching nursing,
being a senior nursing administrator, locally, provincially and nationally.
She earned at various schools her RN, BScN, MS and PHD in Nursing at the
University of Illinois. Her honours include an outstanding teacher award
form the Ontario Association of University Teachers, Honorary doctoral
degrees, and the Jeanne Mance Award from the Canadian Nursing Association.
She was Director of the School of Nursing at Laurentian University where she
governed and inspired the development of a bilingual nursing program. As
Dean of Nursing at the University of Toronto, she instrumental in launching
the first doctoral program in Nursing in Ontario. |
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Mary L. Richmond |
Born Vancouver, British Columbia 1920. Died November 29,
2002. She studied the Vancouver General Hospital Sxhool of Nursing in
1943 and began her career as a teacher at the school upon graduation.
Beginning in the 1950's she was the Director of Nursing at the Royal
Jubilee Hosbital and the Vancouver General hospital. During her tenure as
Director she helped initiate programs in public health, tuberculosis nursing
and psychiatric nursing. She served on committees of the Canadian Nurses
Association and with a budding interest in nursing history she was a
founding member of the History of Nursing Professional Practice Group. She
retired from nursing in 1992 having provided several generations of
professional nurses with a solid definition of what it was to be a nursing
citizen. |
|
Margaret Alexandra Shea |
née Rendell Born St John's, Newfoundland 1863. Died May 18,
1949. As a young woman of a family of means and an accomplished pianist,
Margaret was in no doubt welcome in the social activities of the day in St
John's. However, she wanted more. Her music teacher had attended the Johns
Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A., and this may have
influenced Miss Rendell to do the same in 1895. After her studies and a
short apprenticeship in the United States she returned home to an
appointment as matron of the General Hospital. She was the first
Newfoundland-born woman to become a professional nurse. In 1901 she resigned
her position to marry George Shea. Her husband was a prominent politician in
the province and she was busy providing her support for his position. She
was also one of the first women (maybe even the first) woman in Newfoundland
to receive her drivers license and she was notorious for the speed at which
she conducted her automobile through the streets of the city sending all in
her path for safety. |
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Mary Agnes Snively |
Born St Catherines, Ontario November 12, 1847. Died September
26, 1933. She studied nursing at the Bellevue Training School in New York
State, U.S.A. In 1884 she was appointed as Superintendent of the Training
Schools for Nurses at the Toronto General Hospital. A position she retained
until her retirement in 1910. She would be the main driving force behind the
formation of the Canadian Nurses Association. She was elected first
president of the association in 1911. |
|
Verna Huffman Splane |
Born Peterborough, Ontario. She took a School of Nursing
Diploma from the University of Toronto in 1939 as one of several educational
steps she would take throughout her career. She also attended Teachers
College in British Columbia and the University of Michigan in the U.S.A.
Between 1947-1958 she was a Senior Nursing counselor for the Department of
National Health and Welfare. She worked internationally with the World
Health Organization which took her to the Caribbean, South America and
Africa. In 1973 she was the Vice President of the International Council of
Nurses. Among her many awards was the the University of Michigan recognition
as an Outstanding Public Health Nurse, the Queen's Jubilee Medal, the
Canadian Red Cross Distinguished Service Award and in 1982 the National
Award from the Canadian Nurses Association. In 1995 she was awarded the
Order of Canada. |
|
Mary Margaret Street |
Born Toronto, Ontario May 30, 1907 Died December 7, 1993. She
took her original B.A. and teaching certificate in Manitoba but soon decided
to enter nursing and studied at the Royal Victoria in Montreal. She also
obtained a Certificate in teaching and Supervision for Graduate Nurses at
McGill. During her long teaching career she would support her profession by
being elected to posts in registered nurses association in several provinces
where she lived and worked. She was interested in the history of nursing and
published a book on pioneer nursing in western Canada called Watch fires on
the mountain : life of Ethel Johns. (Toronto, 1973) She received the Order
of Canada for her contributions to her country through her profession in
1982. |
|
Shirley M Stinson |
Born Arelee, Saskatchewan 1929. She trained as a Registered
Nurse, studied for a degree in education and has earned a Doctored in
Science. She has been involved in nursing, research, administration and
teaching. A faculty member at the University of Alberta, now Professor
Emeritus, she had served as the President of the Canadian Nurses Association,
first woman senior National Health Scientist, founding Chair of the Alberta
Foundation for Nursing Research, chair of the 1986 International Nursing
Research Conference and co-Chair of the 1993 First International Conference
on Community Health Nursing Research. The list of the awards she has earned
in long and impressive. The awards list includes the Order of Canada, The
Jeanne Mance Award form the Canadian Nurse's Association, the Sir Frederick
Haultain Prize in the Humanities, the Nursing Hall of Fame and the Ethel
Johns Award for distinguished Services to Nursing Education in Canada. She
is the author of over 100 publications and reports. She is an
internationally sought after lecturer and consultant. She is busy in her
support to raise funds for the Nursing Collection at the Museum of
Civilization, promoting utilization of chronobiological research findings to
prevent strokes and heart attacks in high risk populations, expanding dental
services for needy adults and continuing her work on nursing history. |
|
Ethel L. M. Thorp |
She served as a nursing sister in World
War ll and has served internationally in England, France, Iraq, India and
China. While in Jamaica in the West Indies she established a training
program for psychiatric nurses. Back home in Canada she is a founding member
of the Canadian Tuberculosis and Respiratory Disease Association. During her
career she has become a member of the Order of the British Empire and in
1981 she received the Florence Nightingale Award, one of the highest awards
from the International Red Cross. |
|
Helen Griffith Wylie Watson. |
(née McArthur) Born Stettler,
Alberta July 11, 1911. Died December 15, 1974. After nursing the
Peace River Country of Alberta, she joined the Red Cross Society and later
became president of the organization. She would also serve as president of
the Canadian Nurses Association. In 1954 she earned the Florence
Nightingale Award for her work in Korea. She was and officer of the Order of
Canada. |
Nursing Administrators and founders
Back
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|
Lady Elsie Elizabeth Allardyce |
Born London, England June 7, 1878. Died
1962. Lady Allardyce was the wife of the Governor of Newfoundland, who
served in office from 1922-1928. She was however not satisfied to serve
simply as chatelaine for the province. She is the founder of the Girl Guide
movement in the province and was a moving force in provincial nursing. She
expanded the Outport Nursing Scheme and organized Home Industrial Centres to
teach Newfoundland women patterns of knitting and weaving. The crafts were
sold to raise funds to pay nurses' salaries. Because of the self-supporting
nature of the program rural Newfoundland was able to retain nurses during
difficult economic times. In 1924 the ONS became the Newfoundland Outport
Nursing and Industrial Association. |
|
Medical Researchers Back |
|
Nancy N. Berg |
During her career she has been part of a research team
investigating the machinery in cells that defends the body against foreign
agents such as viruses and tumors. She has, through her studies at the
University of Alberta and the University of Toronto, published and lectured
extensively on her area of expertise. Her goal is to aid in the development
of immunotherapies for medical application. Among the awards she has
received is the Alice Wilson Award from the Royal Society of Canada. |
|
Susan M. Bradley |
At the beginning of her scientific career she was the 1992
recipient of the Alice Wilson Award presented by the Royal Society of
Canada. Her doctoral research was on the synthesis and characterization of
new types of porous, inorganic crystalline polymers. At he University of
Calgary she synthesized several new materials at high temperatures and
pressures in aqueous solutions and characterized them using a variety of
sophisticated techniques including X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and
nuclear magnetic resonance. She continued her post doctoral studies at the
University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. |
|
Donna Arlene Choe |
Born Toronto, Ontario March 9, 1940. She carried out
her studies for a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Toronto
and then moved to the University of Manitoba where she earned her PhD. Her
professional pursuits are in the field of immunology. She is a professor in
this subject at the University of Manitoba. A published expert on immunology
she was the YMCA Woman of Distinction in 1992 and was also awarded the
Canada 125 Medal in recognition of her accomplishments. |
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Sylvia Olga Fedoruk. |
Born
Canora, Saskatchewan May 5, 1927. An excellent academic achiever she
established her reputation for achievement in nuclear medical research early
in her career. She was instrumental in the development of the first cobalt
radiation unit which is now in side use as a chemotherapy treatment for
cancer. She was the first woman named to the position of Chancellor at the
University of Saskatchewan. She was also the first woman trustee of the
Society of Nuclear Medicine and in 1973 she was the first woman appointed to
the Atomic Energy Control Board of Canada. She was Lieutenant Governor of
Saskatchewan from 1988 to 1994. A balanced achiever she enjoys sports and is
a member of Canada’s Curling Hall of fame. She was appointed to the Order of
Canada in 1986. |
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Elizabeth Stern |
Born
Cobalt, Ontario September 19, 1915. Died August 18, 1980. She studied
medicine at the University of Toronto and graduated in 1939. She moved to
the United States where her research gained international attention. While
working at UCLA she published the first case report linking a specific virus
to a specific cancer. In her study of birth control pills and cervical
cancer she later showed that a normal cell goes through 250 distinct stages
before reaching advanced cervical cancer. One of the first specialists in
cytopathology, the study of diseased cell she helped lead to earlier
detection techniquest to help save women’s lives. The Encyclopedia
Britannica, included her in their list of “300 women who changed the
world” that was released in 2006. |
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Norma Ford Walker |
Born St Thomas, Ontario September 3, 1893.
Died August 9, 1968. In 1914 she entered the University of Toronto and by
1923 she had earned her PhD. She was an instructor at the University of
Toronto and became a full professor of Human Genetics. After her marriage in
1943 to Dr. Edmond Merton Walker she she remained dedicated to her career.
In 1947 she was the founder and Director of the Department of Genetics a the
Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. She forged a research tradition that
served as the basis for further developments in medical genetics in Toronto
and educated a generation of students, many of whom were women, who
went on to populate and then institutionalize the growing science and
practice of medical genetics in Canada. She was a charter member of both the
Genetics Society of Canada and the American Society of Human Genetics.
She was trustee of the Queen Elizabeth Fund for Research in Children's
Diseases. In 1958 she was elected Fellow, Royal Society of Canada.
http://www.science.ca has a
biography of this great Canadian. |
|
Elaine Gottschall |
née Reichbaum .
Born
Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, USA Died
September 5, 2005. A determined mother who “had” to ease her
daughter’s pain she went back to school at 47 earning a bachelor’s and a
masters degree in biology biochemistry, nutritional biochemistry and
cellular biology. She became a hero to hundreds of thousands of people as
she wrote Breaking the Vicious Cycle (1987). This book was the first
to connect intestinal health with died. As a Mom, she could not allow her
youngest child to suffer and through her work with diets, she healed her
daughter’s intestinal problems. She then shared her findings to help others.
The book ran for 10 editions and was translated into 7 different languages.
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Julia Levy. |
Born
May 15,1934. She enjoyed mathematics in high schools and was inspired by
her grade 11 biology teacher. She earned her Ph.D. and became a professor
at the University of British Columbia. Together with some university
colleagues, she founded her own drug company dealing with photodynamic
Theory. Recognized for her contributions to cancer treatments she is also
investigating treatment of diseases such as arthritis, psoriasis ( a skin
disease) and multiple sclerosis. She is also very proud to have two
grandchildren. |
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Margaret Anne Wilson Thompson |
Born Northwich, England January 7, 1920. A
geneticist who has contributed to her field through research particularly on
muscular dystrophy. She has also taught at the university level at various
universities from 1948-1985. She has written text books for her field of
medicine which are widely used to this day. |
|
Pharmacists
Back |
|
Louise Beaulac-Baillargeon |
Born Shawinigan, Quebec February 21, 1944.
She studied for her B.A. at Laval University and continued on to earn her B.
Pharm. and her PhD. She began teaching as an assistant professor at Laval in
1974. She would go on to study and research in the estimation of milk to
plasma ratios by an in vitro methodological approach and then the use of
pharmockinetics during pregnancy and post-partum and also looked at
caffeine, cigarettes and drugs interaction on post natal development. She
became Director m Master Degree Program in Hospital Pharmacy form 1980-1988
and in continued to be a professor and chair of the Pharmacology, School of
Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University. She has written numerous
papers and report in her area of expertise as well as having co-authored
several books and chapters in various specific textbooks. She is author and
editor of Medicaments pendant la grossesse et la lactation. |
|
Physicians
Back |
|
Maude Elizabeth Abbott. |
Born
St. André Est, Quebec March 18, 1869. Died September 2, 1940. This doctor
wrote a successful medical paper on heart murmurs, but a male friend had to
present her paper since women were not admitted to the hall where the paper
was presented! Later she would specialize on heart disease and eventually
published the “Atlas of Congenital Cardiac Disease" for which she gained a
good deal of respect. She also wrote a history of nursing, a basic text for
Canadian nursing schools. She was even made an honorary member of the
all-male Osler Society |
|
Elizabeth Catherine Bagshaw. |
Born Cannington, Ontario
October 18, 1881.
Died January 5, 1982. One of Canada's first women doctors,
she had a successful 60-year practice. For
30 years she was the medical director of the Hamilton Ontario Birth Control Clinic.
You can just imagine the forces that this courageous woman had to face while
attempting to present women of her era with information on Birth control. |
|
James Miranda Stuart
Barry |
(née
Bulkeley [?]) Born England 1795. Died 1865. In the day when medicine only
accepted men as students one woman disguised herself as a men and entered
the Edinburgh University in 1809. As a doctor in the British army she served
in the far corners of the British Empire and gained a reputation as an
outstanding surgeon. In 157 Dr. Barry was posted to Canada where he was well
respected for his fight to provide cleaner hospital facilities and better
food for the working soldiers. An odd small “man” with little or no facial
hair Dr. Barry was considered an eccentric. It would not be until death,
when the body was being prepared for burial that it would be discovered that
the renowned doctor was indeed a woman! It must have cause a stir in the
Victorian society to have had the first “woman” doctor in the British
Army!!! |
|
Anna Afanasyevna Bhatjakin |
née
Afanaiyevna. Born Korsunka, Russia. Died September 4, 1999. The daughter of
a once upper class Russian family she found herself in Stalin's Russian rule
of the 1930's working on collective farms and in coal mines. She earned
scholarships to the State University in the Ukraine where she led her
graduating class at the Institute of Medicine. Caught up in the German
invasions of World War ll the family retreated across eastern Europe while
Dr Bratjakin continued to provide care in refugee camps. By 1950, she
opted to bring her young family, including her wounded husband to Montreal.
She worked as a domestic servant supporting her family and learning the
working languages of Canada. She became a specialist in internal
medicine and would earn a reputation as a cardiologist. She had a practice
at Ste-Anne's de Bellevue open late afternoons and evenings and worked at
the hospital during the day. A widow, in 1988 she moved to Ottawa, working
with National Defence Medical Centre and a family clinic in Gatineau. She
had bee a physician of the western world. Although a disinherited Cossack
heiress, she did not want to remain a coal mine worker in Communist Russia.
She had determination to provide a service to humanity. |
|
Joan M. Boggs. |
Born August 18, 1946. When she relaxes she goes hiking and canoeing or can be found gardening.
When she goes to work she is a Senior Scientist at the hospital for Sick Children
and a professor at the University of Toronto. Dr. Boggs is the author/co-author
of more than 85 papers which have appeared in various scientific journals. You
will find her listed in the Canadian Who's Who at your local library. |
|
Helen Chan. |
Born June 19, 1947. This physician has been a
main stay as pediatric oncologist at the Hospital for Sick Children in
Toronto from 1979. She also serves as a professor of pediatrics at the
University of Toronto. |
|
Octavia Grace England |
(née Ritchie) Born Montreal, Quebec January 16, 1868. Died
February 1,1948. She would be the first woman to be valedictorian at McGill
University even though she was originally refused entry because she was a
woman. She was the first woman to graduate from a medical school in Quebec. |
|
Jessie Catherine Gray. |
Born
Augusta, Georgia, U.S.A. August 26, 1910. Died October 16, 1978. A
distinguished and internationally recognized surgeon, lecturer and
researcher, Dr. Gray has so many “firsts” that “The Canadian Encyclopedia”
calls her Canada’s first lady of surgery. From 1941 until retirement in 1965
she worked with the Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, as associate and as
surgeon-in-chief. Here is the list of firsts: 1934, first woman gold
medalist in medicine at the University of Toronto; 1939 first woman to hold
a master of surgery degree; 1941 first woman resident surgeon a the Toronto
General Hospital; 1941 first Canadian woman to become a “fellow” in the
Royal College of Surgeons; first woman member of the Central Surgical
Society of North America; 1966 first woman elected to the Science Council of
Canada. |
|
Anna Marion Hilliard. |
Born
Morrisburg, Ontario June 17,
1902. Died July 15, 1958. In 1947 this medical doctor helped develop a
simplified Pap test, which is used to detect cancer in adult women. From
1947 to 1957 she was Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Women's College
Hospital in Toronto. She
specialized in a commonsense approach to childbirth problems and authored a
book “A Woman Doctor Looks at Love and Life”. (1957) After her death
a second book “Women and Fatique” was published.
|
|
Lenora King |
Born Farmersville (Athens), Upper Canada
(Ontario). In order to study medicine she had to leave Canada to study at
the University of Michigan Women's Medical College. With the support of the
Women's Foreign Missionary Society she sailed to Shanghai in 1877, the first
Canadian doctor to practice medicine in China. She was 60 years ahead of Dr.
Norman Bethune. Dr King obtained the patronage of Lady Li, wife of the
viceroy of Chilhli province in Tientsin. It was after she had attended Lady
Li that she opened the first Chinese hospital for women and children. In
1884 she married a widowed Scottish missionary, the Reverend Alexander King.
As a married woman she was expected to support the work of her husband, not
work on her own. Lady Li opened a new hospital for Dr King in 1885, a
hospital totally funded by the Chinese. In 1889 the Government of China
recognized the distinguished doctor with the Imperial Chinese Order of the
Double Dragon making her a Mandarin which is a similar to being a knight in
England. In 1909 she organized the Government Medical School for Women so
that Chinese doctors and nurses could be trained. She is a member of the
Canadian Medicine Hall of Fame. |
|
Jane Sproule Manson |
Born, Britton, Ontario August 29, 1878. She graduated from
the University of Toronto and did post graduate studies in London, Vienna
and Berlin. She was the first Canadian woman to sit for primary examinations
for the Royal College of Physicians in London England. In 1911 she became a
licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians, London England and by 1912
she was appointed to the staff at the University of Toronto. Dr. Manson was
appointed Chief, Nose, Throat and Ear Department, Women's College Hospital
in Toronto in 1924. |
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Maud Leonora Menten |
Born
Port Lambton, Ontario 1879 Died 1960. A dedicated and outstanding medical
scientist she was the first Canadian woman to receive a medical doctorate in
1911 at the University of Toronto. In 1913, while working in Germany, she
and a colleague Leonora Michaelis developed the Michaelis-menten equation
which is a basic biochemical concept. She continued researching and
publishing and made discoveries relating to blood sugar, hemoglobin and
kidney functions. From 1951-1954 she conducted cancer research in British
Columbia. |
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Brenda Milner |
née Langford. Born Manchester, England 1918. She took her
undergraduate studies at the famous Cambridge University, 1939 in England.
By 1952 she had completed her PhD at McGill University, Montreal. She had
immigrated to Canada in 1944 to join the Institut de Psychologie at the
Université de Montréal. She continued her work at the Montreal Neurological
Institute where she became one of the pioneers in neurophysiology. Her
published studies, particularly in epilepsy cases, have added substantially
to the specific understanding of the structure and functioning of the brain.
She was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1984 and is a member of
Canada's Medical Hall of Fame. |
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Minerva Ellen Reid |
Born Orangeville, Ontario 1872. Died 1957. Both she and her
older sister Hannah would become medical doctors. Minerva graduate from the
Ontario Medical College for Women in 1905. She became on of the original
Board of Directors for the Women's College Hospital in Toronto. She was
chief of surgery from 1915 through 1926 at Women's College Hospital. During
the Depression her interests turned to politics. She was defeated when
presented herself as the candidate for the Reconstruction Party in the
riding of High Park in Toronto in the 1935 election. |
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Ricky Kanee Schachter |
Born Melville, Saskatchewan December 23, 1918. After earning
her BA at the University of Saskatchewan she headed to the University of
Toronto to her her medical degree in 1943. She then did some post graduate
work at Columbia University in New York in dermatology. She returned to her
husband in Toronto where they would raise their three children. In 1946 she
joined the staff of the Woman's College Hospital in Toronto. She has
served as Chief of Dermatology and Director of the Psoriases Education and
Research Centre where she pioneered the idea of treating psoriases patients
on an out-patient basis. it is considered a Centre of Excellence in North
America. In 1978-9 she became the first woman to lead specialists in her
field when she served as President of the Canadian Dermatology association.
She has published numerous papers, reports and articles in her field and is
is demand internationally for seminars and scientific exhibitions. She has
received numerous honours including the Queens Golden Jubilee Medal |
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Emily Howard Stowe |
(née
Jennings). Born Norwich, Upper Canada (Ontario) May 1, 1831. Died April
30,1903. A life long champion of women’s rights. With no Canadian
institution allowing women to study medicine she studied in the United
States and in 1868 became the first Canadian woman to practice medicine in
Canada. It was she who organized the Women’s Medical College in Toronto in
1883. She was also founder and first president of the Dominion Women’s
Enfranchisement Association in 1889. |
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Anne Augusta Stowe-Gullen. |
(née
Stowe). Born Mount Pleasant, Canada West (Ontario) July 27,1857. Died
September 25, 1943. She was the daughter of the famous Canadian Emily Stowe
and she was the first woman to gain a medical degree in Canada. She
graduated from Victoria College in Coburg in 1883. |
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Lucille Teasdale. |
Born Montreal, Quebec. 1929. Died August 1,
1996. She studies at the University of Montreal and in 1955 was the first
woman in Quebec to receive a diploma as a surgeon. She attempted to obtain
training abroad but was turned down by American hospitals because she was a
women. She joined forces with a Canadian colleague and her future husband,
Dr. Pietro Corti and they went to Uganda where they would work for more than
thirty years. A hospital was set up and Dr. Teasdale performed more the
13,000 surgeries working through civil wars, epidemics and massacres. She
was a member of the Order of Canada, was awarded the Saskawa Prize with her
husband in 1996. This is the most prestigious distinction awarded by the
World Health Organization of the United Nations. She died from aids which
she contracted while operating on an infected patient. Canada Post issued a
commemorative stamp in her honour as part of the Millennium series, January
17, 2000 |
|
Ethlyn Trapp |
Born New Westminster, British Columbia 1891. Died July 31,
1972. She graduated as a medical doctor from McGill University in Montréal
in 1927. She did post graduate medical studies in Berlin, Germany and
Vienna, Austria. Returning to Canada she became a practicing pediatrician
but soon returned to Europe to study radiotherapy. Back in Canada she opened
an office which became a private centre for cancer treatment. With partners
Dr Olive Sadler and Dr Margaret Hardie she launched a clinical research
project on breast cancer. She was the president of the British Columbia
Medical Association and of the National Cancer Institute. She received the
Order of Canada in 1968. |
|
Jenny (Jennie) Kidd Trout |
(née
Gowanlock) Born Kelso, Scotland April 21, 1841. Died November 10,1921. After
her marriage in 1865 Jenny decided to become a medical doctor. However, no
Canadian medical school accepted women. She studied in the United States. In
1875 on passing the Ontario registration exam she became the first Canadian
woman licensed to practice medicine in Canada. |
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Amelia Yeomans . |
(née Le
Sueur) Born March 29,1842. Died April 11, 1913. In 1878, after the death of
her medical doctor husband, Amelia and her daughter Lillian decided to study
medicine. Since there were no schools in Canada accepting women as students
the two women studied in the U.S. Both specialized in midwifery ( birth of
children) and diseases affecting women and children in the Canadian midwest.
Soon they were joined by another daughter Charlotte who was a nurse. The
medical trio became champions of woman's suffrage ( votes for women),
temperance ( stopping excess drinking of alcohol) and crusaded against
prostitution and the diseases of prostitution. Amelia had a great speaking
presence and lectured successfully for social equality and improvement of
life. Modern Canadian women owe a lot to these social pioneering women.
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Veterinarians Back |
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Lenka J. Husa |
Born Czechoslovak February 21, 1942. She
studied for her degree in veterinary medicine in the Czechoslovak Republic.
She and her family emigrated and settled in Newfoundland where she worked as
a research Assistant , at the Animal Care Facility at Memorial University.
She has authored and c-authored numerous articles and reports in her field.
In 1989 she was appointed Director of Animal Care Services at Memorial
University. She won the Award of Excellence from the Canadian Council of
Animal Care and in the President's Award for Exemplary Service from Memorial
University in 1995. |
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