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The site of Hamilton General Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario was originally home to City Hospital. The City owned facility was moved in 1882 to a plot of farmland that was purchased for $4,600. The Hamilton General Training School of Nursing was established at City Hospital in 1890, and in 1901 the Hamilton City Hospital Alumnae Association was founded. Meanwhile, the hospital’s services were continually expanded; A maternity hospital opened in 1892, and an operating theatre was built in 1893. In 1914, a separate children’s ward was established, funded largely by private contributions and the sale of souvenirs.

In 1917 City Hospital became Hamilton General Hospital. The city’s first cancer clinic was established there in 1938. In 1962, Hamilton General Hospital amalgamated with the Nora Frances Henderson Hospital and the Mountain Hospital to become a single corporation known as Hamilton Civic Hospitals. Fifteen years later in 1997, that corporation joined Chedoke Hospitals to establish Hamilton Health Sciences.

The McMaster Medical Student Council (MMSC) is an elected group of students who organize academic and non-academic events to complement the undergraduate medical program. The MMSC serves the needs of medical students within the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine. Through the formation of interest groups, promotion of volunteer opportunities, and funding of research events, the MMSC strives to provide students the opportunity to explore the many aspects of medicine in order to enhance their overall learning experience. Various MMSC committees are tasked with planning and organizing events such as blood drives, memorials, community fundraisers and volunteer opportunities for students, as well as collecting materials for the School of Medicine yearbook and the MMSC newsletter, The Placebo.

Edward James Moran Campbell (better known as Moran) was a physician, scientist, and educator. His career spanned decades, and he was considered the foremost clinical respiratory physiologist of his generation, and directly influenced how respiratory medicine is taught in England and Canada.

E.J.M Campbell was born August 31, 1925, in Yorkshire, England, to father Edward Gordon Campbell, a general practitioner; and mother Clare Irene O’Callaghan. Campbell’s early education took place at Clifton High School, a private preparatory school in Harrogate and at King James’ Grammar School in Knaresborough. Campbell would later attend the Harrogate Technical College night school where he became a pathology technician. After working as a technician, Campbell attended Middlesex Hospital Medical School where he completed a BSc in 1949, his MD in 1951, and a PhD in 1954.

From 1953-1954 Campbell was the Registrar at the Middlesex Hospital and following that became the Comyns-Berkeley Fellow of the Middlesex Hospital and Gonville and Caius College in Cambridge, which he held at the John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1955, Campbell would be appointed an assistant professor at the Post Graduate Medical School (later the Royal Postgraduate Medical School) while also being a practicing physician at the Hammersmith Hospital. In 1957 Campbell married Diana Mary Elizabeth Green (1931-2021), who was a nurse at Middlesex Hospital. The two would eventually have four children: Fiona, Susan, Robert, and Jessica.

Campbell would publish the book “The Respiratory Muscles and the Mechanisms of Breathing” in 1958 which was based on his PhD thesis on “The Muscular Control of Breathing in Man”, and in 1960 would submit a paper that would lead to the creation of the Venturi mask. The following decade would see Campbell become the Editor in Chief of the “Clinical Science” Journal and would go on to edit the “Clinical Physiology” textbook with John Dickinson. In 1965 Campbell would deliver a lecture (on “Respiratory Failure”) for the Goulstonian Lectures at the Royal College of Physicians, London; and in 1967 would be the youngest scientist to give the J. Burns Amberson Lecture of the American Thoracic Society.

In 1968 Campbell was approached by John Evans, the founding Dean of the McMaster University Medical School, to become a R.S. McLaughlin Professor of Medicine, and the founding Chair of the Department of Medicine at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. Realizing that he would rather create something new then staying in England, Campbell would accept the position and moved to Hamilton with his family that same year. From 1968-1975 Campbell would be the Chair of the Department of Medicine and was known as an incredible recruiter and resource for the department. After ending his seven-year run as Chair of the Department, Campbell would continue as Professor of Medicine. Campbell would become a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1983 and would also publish a memoir in 1988 called “Not Always on the Level”, which detailed his life and work while living with bipolar disorder. In 1991 Campbell would retire from his position at McMaster University with his achievements being honored at the “International Breathlessness: Campbell Symposium”. From 1991-2004 Campbell would be designated as a Professor Emeritus of the university, and in 2001 was inducted as an Officer of the Order of Canada by then Governor General Adrienne Clarkson.

Campbell was an avid cyclist, picking up the hobby while moving to Hamilton, and was a vocal supporter of cycling tracks and lanes in the city. Throughout the span of his life, E.J.M Campbell would write a multitude of scholarly articles and had many of his opinion pieces published in various newspapers.

Campbell would die on April 12, 2004, from colon cancer.

Dr. David Lawrence Sackett (1934-2015) was a physician, clinical scientist, and educator who is widely considered the father of evidence-based medicine.

Born and raised in suburban Chicago, Illinois, USA, Sackett earned a B.A. degree in 1956 from Lawrence College in Appleton, Wisconsin, and a B.Sc. in 1958 and an M.D. in 1960 from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago specializing in internal medicine and nephrology. He was then a Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Institutes of Health before being drafted into the armed forces as a result of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Sackett was allocated to the U.S. Public Health Service and positioned at the Chronic Disease Research Institute at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Here, his interest shifted from laboratory to clinical medicine, particularly clinical epidemiology. In 1967, he earned an M.Sc. degree in epidemiology from Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts.

In 1967, Sackett moved to Hamilton, Ontario to establish in McMaster University’s new School of Medicine the world’s first Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, in which he became an Associate Professor and of which he became the first Chair. He was promoted to the rank of Professor in 1970. In 1974 and 1975, he was a Visiting Professor in the Department of Community Medicine at St. Thomas’s Hospital Medical School in London, England, working with Dr. Walter W. Holland. At McMaster, Sackett conducted novel research into the effects of aspirin and carotid endarterectomy in reducing the chances of stroke; care and treatment options for those suffering from hypertension; and the effectiveness of nurse practitioners. He led the creation of an M.Sc. program in clinical epidemiology and health care research methods, and persuaded McMaster not to create a Department of Public Health so that the ideas of epidemiology would not be isolated in one department.

In 1983, in an effort to keep up-to-date clinically, Sackett undertook a two-year residency in hospitalist internal medicine. He subsequently served as Physician-in-Chief at Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals and then, beginning in 1990, as Head of the Division of General Internal Medicine for the Hamilton region and Attending Physician at Henderson General Hospital.

During his time in Hamilton, Sackett worked to develop the concept of evidence-based medicine, which posits that patient care should be based on a critical appraisal of the best and most up-to-date scientific evidence, clinical expertise, and patient values, as opposed to tradition, authority, and subjective judgement. It requires that randomized clinical trials (RCTs) be conducted to determine the efficacy of diagnostic tests and treatments and that the results of these trials be made accessible to and be trusted by physicians. For this reason, Sackett spent much time examining and improving the ways in which RCTs are carried out as well as actually carrying them out. Evidence-based medicine further requires that the results of each trial be compared with those of other trials concerning the same medical condition. In 1993, an international charitable organization, the Cochrane Collaboration, was formed to oversee the undertaking of this work by volunteer experts. Sackett became the first Chair of its Steering Group.

The following year, Sackett left McMaster and moved to England to become the founding Director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at the University of Oxford and a clinician at John Radcliffe Hospital. While at Oxford, Sackett traveled extensively within the United Kingdom and Europe, visiting hospitals and teaching medical professionals about evidence-based medicine, which, as a result, gained great popularity. He also became the founding Co-Editor of the journal Evidence-Based Medicine. Wanting to make way for new thinking, Sackett gave his final lecture on evidence-based medicine in 1999.

That same year, Sackett officially retired from academia and clinical practice and returned to Canada. In Irish Lake, Ontario, he founded and became the Director of the Kilgore S. Trout Research & Education Centre (now based in Hamilton), where he read, researched, wrote, and taught about RCTs. Sackett also served as an expert witness in lawsuits against Big Pharma.

Dr. Sackett died in Markdale, Ontario on 13 May 2015 at the age of 80 due to cholangiocarcinoma (cancer of the bile duct).

Throughout his life, Sackett published twelve books, about sixty book chapters, and over four hundred articles in medical and scientific journals, and earned numerous prestigious awards and honours, including an Honorary Doctorate of Science from McMaster in 2009.

Earle Parkhill Scarlett was born in High Bluff, Manitoba in 1896 to Reverend Robert A. Scarlett and Alma Parkhill Scarlett. In 1906, the family moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba. Scarlett left home at the age of 15 and made his way by teaching summer school. He entered Wesley College (now the University of Winnipeg) at 16 where he pursued his Bachelor of Arts. During this time, he served as editor of the college journal, Vox Wesleyana. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts in 1916, Scarlett joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force and fought in WWI, becoming severely wounded in the Battle of Arras. Following his time in the military, Scarlett decided to study medicine and enrolled at the University of Toronto. While there, he fostered his passion for academic journals, founding and editing the first undergraduate medical journal in North America, the University of Toronto Medical Journal. Scarlett achieved his Bachelor of Medicine in 1924 and that same year he married Jean Odell, with whom he went on to have three children, Robert, Elizabeth, and Katherine.

After graduation, Scarlett did his postgraduate work and fellowship at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan from 1925-27. He was then an associate professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the State University of Lowa from 1927-30. In 1930, Scarlett moved back to Canada, settling in Calgary, Alberta where he joined the Calgary Associate Clinic as a specialist in internal medicine. From 1931-51, he conducted sexual education classes for high school boys through the YMCA, the first venture of its kind in the city. He became a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada in 1932 and a fellow of the American College of Physicians in 1946. Along with his Clinic colleague Dr. George Stanley, Scarlett founded the Historical Bulletin, a quarterly medical history journal, which ran from 1936-58. Scarlett served as president of the Calgary Associate Clinic as well as a senior consultant in medicine at Colonel Belcher Hospital, both from 1947-58.

Dr. Earle Parkhill Scarlett received honorary doctorates from the University of Toronto, the University of Alberta, and the University of Calgary. Scarlett was a prolific writer, authoring more than 450 papers, articles, monographs, and book contributions. He died in 1982 at the age of 86.

John Fowler was born on July 3, 1888 in West Ham, London, England. He enlisted in the Canadian army, machine gun section 169th Overseas Battalion CEF Camp Niagara, on February 14, 1916. He served in England and France (including Vimy Ridge). He was hospitalized with pneumonia and suspected tuberculosis in England and France in 1917. He spent five months at the Hamilton Sanatorium recovering from tuberculosis and bronchitis. He later spent five years in and out of various hospitals in New Jersey, Vancouver, and New Zealand seeking treatment. Although he was an engineer prior to the war, he was not able to work due to his collapsed lung. He spent his working years on a small pension supplemented by part-time self-employment. He was married to Harriet Elizabeth Fox (married on November 27, 1915) and they had one son together, William John Fowler (who served in the Second World War).

Terry Bellavance was born in Follyette, Ontario, in 1950 and moved to Lugama at the age of 2, before settling in Geraldton. At the age of 5, Terry suffered a severe burn injury, which was initially treated by two doctors on a train before being transferred to Sudbury General Hospital for further care.

By the age of 14, Terry was working as a bull cook, and at 16, took on the role of a fireman for the Ministry of Natural Resources. Terry began studying Structural Engineering at Lakehead University but later decided to switch majors. On June 15, 1968, a car accident resulted in spinal cord damage, leading to an 11-month recovery period at St. Joseph's Hospital, following initial treatment at Port Arthur General Hospital. Terry was then transferred to Lyndhurst Lodge before returning to university to study General Arts, while living with a family friend.

During this time, Terry underwent an ileo conduit operation. Terry then secured a position as a Research Assistant or Coordinator at the Lakehead Social Planning Council. It was in 1969/1970 that Terry met their future spouse, and the couple moved in together, eventually marrying in 1972.

In the 1970s, Terry was actively involved with the Handicapped Action Group and successfully secured Local Initiative Program grants. Additionally, Terry played a key role in organizing a conference with the Canadian Paraplegic Association (CPA). Due to an infection, Terry had a leg amputated, resulting in a year of bed care in 1979, followed by the amputation of the other leg in 1981.

Professionally, Terry contributed as a development consultant for Castle Green Co-op and Spiritview Housing Co-op and later became the Regional Director of March of Dimes. Terry and their spouse adopted children, enriching their family life.

Terry passed away in 1999.

The Health Sciences Archives at McMaster University has a rich history that informally began in 1973. Initially driven by concerns over the lack of official records documenting the development of the McMaster Medical School and the Health Sciences Centre, an appeal was made for relevant material from individuals and departments connected with the Medical School to be “frozen” and stored. The effort to collect these records was formalized in July 1974 with the launch of the McMaster Health Sciences Archives Project, which aimed to collect, preserve, index, record, and make available essential documents such as minutes, correspondence, and articles.

In October 1974, Joan McAuley was appointed as the first full-time archivist, tasked with collecting and sorting through material. An ad hoc Archives Committee, consisting of notable figures such as Dr. W.B. Spaulding, Dr. V.R. Neufeld, and Head Librarian Mrs. B. Robinow, supported this initiative. By March 1975, the archival collection had a dedicated area in the Technical Services area of the Health Sciences Library (HSL).

By November 1975, the Archives continued to expand, with a clerk-typist hired in January 1976 to assist with typing and cataloguing the collection, followed by a cataloguer and indexer in February 1976. The cataloguing of 105 running feet of paper was completed by April 1978, but financial constraints led to the termination of the full-time archivist position. From 1978 to 1984, archival work was maintained sporadically by a reference assistant and temporary staff, with issues of space becoming an increasing concern as material from the School of Medicine and School of Nursing continued to be transferred.

Prior to her retirement in 1982, Head Librarian Beatrix Robinow prepared a report highlighting the need for a defined mandate, qualified staff, and proper funding for the Archives. Barbara Craig, an expert consultant from the Archives of Ontario was brought on to conduct an external review and concurred with these recommendations. In December 1983, the Faculty of Health Sciences formally recognized the then ad hoc Archives Committee as a duly constituted body and endorsed a properly funded and staffed archives.

In the spring of 1984, the Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals and the Faculty of Health Sciences agreed to jointly fund an archivist position to collect and manage the records of both bodies. In January 1985, Carl Spadoni was appointed as archivist. Spadoni would implement a program to restore the provenance of records and manage record transfers. He would then oversee the move of records from the Technical Services area to the newly constructed archives storage area and adjoining office June of 1985. Spadoni would serve as archivist until the end of 1986. In 1987, Marian Bonkoff was hired as temporary archivist, and a formal agreement was signed by the Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals and the Faculty of Health Sciences, giving the archives a mandate and financially committing to the archives program. A great number of records from the Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals would be deposited at this time.

Anne McKeage would succeed Marian Bonkoff in July of 1988 as the new Archivist and History of Medicine Librarian, until her retirement in Feb of 2017. Anne McKeage would be instrumental in creating an initial database program where the archives inventory could be searched, microfilming records for preservation in case of environment disasters, and utilizing student help and volunteers to index collections and identify individuals in photo collections. Anne would also develop an access agreement with the Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals to allow use of their materials with researchers, as well as helped implement a Records Management Program. Additionally, Anne was involved in early reconciliation efforts with Inuit and their records.

From Feb 2017 to May 2018, Librarian Jack Young would provide reference assistance with the archives and was Acting Archivist/History of Medicine Librarian.

Melissa Caza would be hired as the new Health Sciences Library Archivist in July of 2018.

In 2023 Jackson Charbonneau would be hired in the new full-time position of Archives Technician to expand the work being done in the Health Sciences Archives. During this same year, Joseph Iyengar would be hired as a Project Archivist to process the Hamilton Academy of Medicine collection.

Dr. Bronislawa J. Wygodzka Was Born in Warsaw, Poland, on Christmas eve, 1922, the daughter of Marek Wygodzki and Maria Wygodzka. During the war she met her husband, Stefan Lipski, and worked with him in a military division in the Polish underground army (AK, Armja Krajowa). She was trained as a sanitary nurse in hospitals while at the same time she took medical classes in the Warsaw ghetto underground medical school. After the war she went to Lodz with her husband, attended the University of Lodz and obtained her MD degree. She died in Warsaw on April 7, 1996.