Can J Surg 2018;61(6):367-369 | Full Text | PDF
A.M. Jack Hyatt, PhD; Andrew Beckett, MD; Vivian C. McAlister, MB
Summary
Canadian universities faced a challenge with the return of a large cohort of battle-hardened students and faculty from the First World War. General Sir Arthur Currie, considered one of the few successful generals of the war, returned to a welcome of silence in Canada. McGill University exploited the opportunity to recruit him as its president. Currie oversaw a campaign of building construction and faculty development at McGill that also had a significant effect on the rest of Canada. Through his fostering of the Montreal Neurological Institute and the recruitment of Dr. Wilder Penfield, Currie facilitated the development of multidisciplinary medicine, which integrates clinical care with research — an aspiration still held by specialty medicine in Canada today.
Accepted Nov. 7, 2018
Affiliations: From Western University, London, Ont. (Hyatt, McAlister); McGill University, Montreal, Que. (Beckett); and the Royal Canadian Medical Services, (Beckett, McAlister).
Competing interests: None declared.
Contributors: All authors contributed substantially to the conception, writing and revision of this article and approved the final version for publication.
DOI: 10.1503/cjs.017118
Correspondence to: V.C. McAlister, C4-211A University Hospital, London ON N6A 5A5, vmcalist@uwo.ca