A Brief History of Canadian Medicine

Among scientists worldwide, there is generally one common fault: lack of appreciation for the history of science. While it is common for scientists to believe that examining the past may stunt the progression of the future, this ideal is blatantly incorrect (Creath, 2010). Similar to how geologists use the concept of uniformitarianism to relate the present day to the past (Baker, 2014), all scientists should use past discoveries to build the future (Creath, 2010). As such, history is extremely valuable in the field of medicine.

While records of medical practice date from the early 1600s when French settlers first colonized New France (North America) (Marquis, 1923), research shows that traditional Indigenous medicine existed much earlier and was orally passed between generations (Roland, 2006). Before the 17th century, illness was treated by medicine men with plant remedies from bloodroot to highbush cranberries (see Figure 1), along with physical cures such as sweat lodges and massage (Roland, 2006).

Figure 1: Images of two common Indigenous medicines from before the 1600s: bloodroot (A) (Dwyer, 2015) and highbush cranberries (B) (Manitoba.ca, n.d.).

The shift to European medicine came with further colonization in the 17th century, as French settlers brought with them epidemic diseases such as measles, typhus, diphtheria, and smallpox (Rossi, 2002; Roland, 2006). Most European doctors were not formally trained and were known as barber-surgeons as they were barbers trained in supplemental procedures (Berkovitz, 2013). Surgical procedures were limited to the limbs and superficial areas of the body, while treatments such as bloodletting (withdrawal of blood) and the induction of vomiting were common (Roland, 2006; Cohen, 2012).

By 1793 the British seized New France which led to a new era of medical practice (Roland, 2006). The anglophone doctors took over the major cities, forcing francophone physicians to poorer regions. In what would become Ontario, loyalist army surgeons and civilian physicians were prevalent (Roland, 2006). Conversely, Upper Canada lacked European medical practitioners and was inflicted with serious illnesses such as malnutrition and malaria (Roland, 2006). Here, individuals were often treated based on botanic Indigenous techniques and midwives birthed infants. Similarly, the maritime colonies were afflicted by disease, though they had a more substantially developed European medical system with surgeons and hospitals (Roland, 2006). In the west, the situation was slightly different, as these regions were controlled by the Hudson’s Bay Company which hired its own private European doctors (Roland, 2006). These physicians included William Fraser Tolmie, the first to perform major surgery in the west (Roland, 2006), and Dr John McLoughlin, who first served at Fort William on Lake Superior (National Park Service, 2016).

In the 19th century a shift towards formal medical education was observed (Roland, 2006). The first Canadian medical schools, such as Talbot Dispensary and the Montreal Medical Institution, were established in the 1820s (Roland, 2006). The 19th century also came with the cholera epidemics in 1832, 1834, 1849, and 1854 (Bilson, 1980). While physicians were first skeptical about the manner of disease spread, Filippo Pacini discovered the Vibrio cholerae bacteria (see Figure 2) in 1854, confirming its bacterial origin (Lippi and Gotuzzo, 2014). These discoveries led to the development of sanitary laws to protect public health as well as the creation of antiseptics in the mid-1800s (Roland, 2006).

Figure 2: Image of a Vibrio cholera bacterium, the main cause of cholera as discovered by Filippo Pacini (Lippi and Gotuzzo, 2014; CDC, NCEZID, and DFWED, 2018).

The 20th century marked rapid development in medical research, including the discovery of insulin in 1922 (Rosenfeld, 2002; Roland, 2006). Overall public health began to improve around World War II, in 1939, (World History Group, 2019) when immunizations became more prevalent, synthetic antibiotics were discovered, and penicillin was mass-produced to treat bacterial infections (Roland, 2006). In the 1950s, Aventis Pasteur Limited developed the immunization that defeated polio, eradicating this illness in the Western Hemisphere (National Research Council, 2004; Roland, 2006).

As medicine continues to advance exponentially in the 21st century, it is important to remember that while research is innovative and future-oriented, its roots remain stemmed in the past.

Works Cited

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