William Osler

The Evolution of Modern Medicine (Dodo Press) William Osler

Sir William Osler, 1st Baronet (1849-1919) was a Canadian physician. He has been called one of the greatest icons of modern medicine and described as the Father of Modern Medicine. Osler was a physician, clinician, pathologist, teacher, diagnostician, bibliophile, historian, classicist, essayist, conversationalist, organizer, manager and author. After two years at the Toronto School of Medicine, he came to McGill University in Montreal where he obtained his medical degree (MDCM) in 1872. Following post-graduate training in Europe, Osler returned to McGill University as a professor in 1874. In 1884 he was appointed Chair of Clinical Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He was a prolific author and a great collector of books and other material relevant to the history of medicine. He was instrumental in founding the Medical Library Association in North America and served as its second President from 1901-1904. Perhaps Oslerâ??s greatest contribution to medicine was to insist that students learned from seeing and talking to patients and the establishment of the medical residency. His works include: Aequanimitas (1904) and The Evolution of Modern Medicine (1921).