Membership in the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame now stands at 49, after 7 new inductees were named Mar. 22. The hall, based in London, Ont., named its first 10 members in 1994. It was created to honour Canadians who have “contributed to the understanding of disease and the advancement of health and the well-being of people everywhere.”
It is now a Who's Who of Canadian medicine and medical research, with members ranging from Frederick Banting, Charles Best and William Osler to more recent inductees such as astronaut Roberta Bondar and epidemiologist David Sackett.
Although most of the inductees are physicians, a handful are from other fields — politician Tommy Douglas was inducted in 1998, while Nobel laureate Michael Smith became a member in 1995.
This year's inductees include another politician, former Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed, founder of the Alberta Heritage Fund for medical research. The other 2001 inductees are:
· Dr. Henry Friesen, former president of the Medical Research Council of Canada and a “role model of scientists”;
· Dr. John Bradley, promoter and organizer of the Alberta Heritage Fund for medical research;
· Dr. Charles Scriver, founder of the De Belle Laboratory in Biochemical Genetics at the Montreal Children's Hospital and “role model and mentor for young clinicians and researchers”;
· Dr. William Gallie (1882–1959), an innovative general surgeon and exemplary medical educator and founder of the first formal residency program in surgery;
· Dr. Frederick Montizambert (1843–1929), Canada's first director general of public health and promoter of the need for a federal Department of Health;
· Dr. Lucille Teasdale-Corti (1929–96), Canadian surgeon who dedicated her professional life to the people of Uganda, where she founded a school of nursing and helped found a hospital before her life was claimed by AIDS.
This year's induction ceremony will take place Oct. 12, 2001, as part of a province-wide youth symposium at the University of Manitoba. Ted Eadinger, chair of the Hall of Fame, says the symposium is the perfect venue for the induction ceremony, since it is designed to motivate senior high school students interested in pursuing careers in the health sciences.