Jennie Kidd Trout was Canada’s first female physician licensed to practice and an incredibly respected and impactful activist. … More The Story of Jennie Trout and Women in Medicine
Born in 1815, Dr. Crawford Long studied medicine and surgery under renowned scholars and had the opportunity to participate in several surgeries. Surgery was a different experience in the early nineteenth century because patients were not sedated and were in excruciating pain throughout the procedure. … More The Story of Dr. Crawford Long and the Ether Controversy
Perry Davis (1791–1862) was born in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, on July 7, 1791. His parents owned no property and thus did not even show up on tax records at the time of Davis’ birth. By 1837, he had tried, unsuccessfully, to start multiple businesses, leaving him $4500 in debt. In 1840, Davis became so sick that his pain was debilitating. His solution? A mix of alcohol, opiates, and herbs, which would later be dubbed “Perry Davis’ Painkiller.” … More The Story of Perry Davis and His Painkiller
As part of the Historic Places Days’ challenge to explore the stories connected to our National Historic Site, we present to you the story of our site’s namesake through the life of lauded Superintendent of Nurses at KGH, Ann Baillie. … More The Story of Ann Baillie and Our National Historic Site
Born in 1781 in Brittany, France, Rene Laënnec (1781-1826) was the doctor who invented the stethoscope. … More The Story of Dr. René Laennec and His Stethoscope
Born in North Carolina in 1902, Dr. Leonidas Berry was one of the leading gastroenterologists of his time. After working as the first black intern at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, he went on to become a junior attending physician at Chicago’s Provident Hospital, the first American hospital owned and operated by African-Americans. … More The Story of Dr. Leonidas H. Berry and His Gastroscope
Dr. Harold M. Tovell was born in 1887, and is considered one of Toronto’s pioneering radiologists. He was an arts and medical student at the University of Toronto, which was where he met his wife Ruth Lillian Massey through her cousin Vincent Massey, the first Canadian to hold the position of Governor General of Canada. Tovell and Massey were married in 1910 and lived first in New York and then in Munich, where Tovell trained under Dr. Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, the discoverer of x-rays. … More The Story of Dr. Harold Tovell and His Love of Art and Medicine
Today would have been Queen Victoria’s 203rd birthday! Victoria Day was established as a holiday in the Province of Canada in 1845, and now is celebrated on the last Monday before May 25th every year in her honour. Queen Victoria impacted Canadian health care practices and the history of Kingston in a number of surprising and fascinating ways! … More The Story of Queen Victoria and Canadian Public Health
The name Dr. Frank Ernest Mellow is attached to forty-three different artefacts here at the Museum of Health Care, not the least of which is the massive electrostatic generator currently on display in our “Electricity and the Invisible Ray” gallery! … More The Story of Dr. Frank Mellow and his Electrostatic Generator
Discoverer of the X-ray, William C. Roentgen won the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901 and contributed to over 1000 academic articles and publications. … More The Story of William Conrad Roentgen and his Roentgen Rays
