Notes and Comments

Notes and Comments MEDICAL LICENSING IN LOWER CANADA; THE DISPUTE OVER CANADA'S FIRST MEDICAL DEGREE Canada's firstmedicaldegreewasawardedby McGill University,Montreal,on 24 May 1833.• The conferringof thisdegreeprecipitateda legalcontroversy overthe right of a medicalgraduateof a Canadianuniversityto practisemedicinewithout further examinationby licensing authorities.Sucha right wasfinally achievedin 1835, whentheMedicalBoardof Examiners for the Districtof Montrealwasforced to accede to an order of the court. A conflictof thisnatureisnotuniquein thehistoryof medicallicensing. In Great Britainsimilardisputes hadoccurredtwocenturies earlierbetweenthe universities andtheRoyalCollege of Physicians of London. 2In Francebitterrivalryhadarisen overthesame issues? Butinthepresent instance thecontroversy wasclosely related topolitical events in LowerCanadain theearlynineteenthcentury. 4 A courtcasesurroundingMcGill'sdegreeresultedwhenthe MontrealMedical The preliminaryresearch wasaidedbyagrantfrom theHumanities andSocial Sciences Division oftheCanada Council tosupport studies ofthehistory oftheFaculty ofMedicine of McGillUniversity. The authoracknowledges withgratitudetheadvice andencouragement of Dr E.H. Bensley andDr DonaldG.Bates, professor of history of medicine, McGill University. • H.E. MacDermot, One Hundred Years ofMedicine inCanada (Toronto•967). Forthecareerof Canada's firstmedical graduate, whichwaspreviously unknown, seeB.R.TunisandE.H. Bensley, 'WilliamLeslie Logie:McGillUniversity's firstGraduate andCanada's firstMedical Graduate,'Canadian Medical Association Journal,cv, Dec. •97 •, •:t59-63. :t SirGeorgeClark,A History. ofthe Royal College ofPhysicians ofLondon (Oxford •964-6) 3 Francis R. Packard,GuyPet tinandtheMedical Prq[kssion inParisinthexvIIthCentury (New York 4 Forthepolitical background of thisperiodtheauthorhasdrawnon HelenTaft Manning, TheRevolt ofFrench Canada •8oo-•835: A Chapter inthe History ofthe British Commonwealth (Toronto •96:t). Vol. LVNo 4 December•974 490 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW Boardrefusedtograntitslicensing certificate tothecandidate, WilliamLogie,unless hesubmitted tofurther examination beforetheboard.ThisDr Logiedeclined todo. The disputethat followedwasthe culminationof a seriesof problemsand ambiguities concerning the functionand powers of the medicallicensing bodywhich had plaguedthe board sinceits electionin •83•. But the basicissues were more complex,and involvedthe structureand controlof the medicalboarditself.Logie, caughtin a legalentanglement betweentheuniversity andthemedicalboard,wasa victim of circumstance around whom the conflict reached its climax. The underlyingproblemswereintensifiedby the varyingrelationships of those involvedto the politicalauthoritiesand the politicaldisputesof the period.The growthof French-Canadian nationalism and the increasing activityof membersof themedicalprofession in theLegislative Assembly further complicated theissue. In effect,thestruggle for controlof themedical boards, elected vappointed, reflected, in microcosm, the larger politicalscene. To understandthe caseit isnecessary to examinethebackgrounds of the protagonists, the MontrealMedicalBoardof ExaminersandtheMcGill MedicalFaculty? The MontrealMedicalBoardwasoneof twolicensing bodiesin LowerCanada. Electedunderthe MedicalActof •83•,6it hadreplaceda previous boardappointed bythegovernor.An appointed board,of varyingcomposition, hadbeeninexistence since•788, whenan Act of the BritishParliament, 7designedprimarilyto prevent unlicensed personsfrom practising medicinein the Provinceof Quebec,had empoweredthe governor,Lord Dorchester,to appointa number of medicalmen to examineprospective practitioners of medicine. Accordingly, districtmedicalboardswereformedinQuebecandMontreal,membersbeingselected bythe governorfrom amongthemedicalmenof eachdistrict. Everypersonwishingto practise medicinein the provincewasrequiredbylaw to appear before one of theseboards. If satisfiedwith the 'character,fitnessand capacity' of the candidate,the membersissuedhim a certificate which,alongwith paymentof a fee and the governor's approval,entitledthe holder to a licenceto practise.Candidateswith degreesin medicine,which at the time could not be obtainedin BritishNorth America,wereusuallygrantedthecertificate of theboard withoutfurther examination.Thosewhosecredentials did not satisfy the board,or thosewhohadreceivedtheir medicaleducation byapprenticeship, wererequiredto 5 Standard references onthehistory of McGillUniversity andmedical history in Canadado notdealwiththisdispute. CyrusMacmillan, McGillanditsStory, •82•-•9 ßß(Toronto•9• •), 94referstoalegaldispute between theuniversity and'rivalauthorities' butdoes not elaborate; MaudeE. Abbott,History ofMedicine intheProvince ofQuebec (Toronto •93•) describes indetailtheoriginoftheMcGillMedicalFaculty, butdoes notmentionthedispute or themedical boards of •83•; Sylvio Leblond,'LaM•decinedanslaProvince deQuEbec avant•847,'Les Cahiers des Dix,xxxv, •97o, 79-85,discusses theproblems of themedical boards of •83• butnotthelegalcase whichensued. 6 • Williamxv,c.•7, 'AnacttorepealacertainActorOrdinance thereinmentioned, andto provide effectual Regulations concerning thePractice of Physic, Surgery andMidwifery' 7 •8 Geo.m, c.8,'An Actor Ordinancetopreventpersons practising Physic andSurgery withintheProvince ofQuebec, orMidwiferyintheTownsofQuebec andMontreal without licence' NOTES AND COMMENTS 491 submitto the board'sexamination.Only those'whoreceivedthe certificateof the boardcouldbelicensed to practise. Not allmembers of themedicalprofession were satisfied withthisarrangement. Some resented theappointment oftheboards bythe governorrather than bythe practitioners; otherscomplainedthat the majorityof thoseappointedwereBritish.s By •8• • theactivemembers of theMontrealBoardof Examiners haddwindledto three. One of these was Dr William Robertson, a founder of the Montreal General Hospital.The othertwowereDr DanielArnoldi and Dr Henry Loedel,who had served ontheboardfor morethantenandthirtyyearsrespectively. Dr Robertson wasalsooneof the medicalofficersseekingto establish a medical schoolin conjunction with the hospital.As a part of this plan he suggested the reconstitution of the Montreal Board of Examiners to include the other medical officers of thehospital. The governor, Lord Dalhousie, agreed,dismissed thepreviousboard ,and createda newone in •8•,3.9This boardwasto consist in future of...