1849-1919

Canadian Physician and Professor of Medicine

Canadian William Osler influenced the establishment of medical education in Canada, the United States, and Great Britain. An outstanding clinician, he sought to lead physicians away from textbooks and to the bedsides of patients. He also foresaw the rise of medical specialists, a trend that did not take root until the end of the nineteenth century when improved travel allowed patients to more conveniently reach a specialist.

Born July 12, 1849, in Bond Head, Canada, Osler was the youngest of nine children of an Anglican missionary. He considered becoming a priest but decided upon medicine, receiving his doctor of medicine at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, in 1872. He was recognized early in his career for his investigations of blood corpuscles and platelets, the cells responsible for blood clotting. He continued his education in London, Berlin, and Vienna, and returned to...