Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • COVID-19 Articles
  • Authors & Reviewers
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
    • Open access
    • Patient engagement
  • Members & Subscribers
    • Benefits for CMA Members
    • CPD Credits for Members
    • Subscribe to CMAJ Print
    • Subscription Prices
    • Obituary notices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2023
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN

User menu

Search

  • Advanced search
CMAJ
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN
CMAJ

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • COVID-19 Articles
  • Authors & Reviewers
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
    • Open access
    • Patient engagement
  • Members & Subscribers
    • Benefits for CMA Members
    • CPD Credits for Members
    • Subscribe to CMAJ Print
    • Subscription Prices
    • Obituary notices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2023
  • Visit CMAJ on Facebook
  • Follow CMAJ on Twitter
  • Follow CMAJ on Pinterest
  • Follow CMAJ on Youtube
  • Follow CMAJ on Instagram
Letters
Open Access

A chance to consider the contributions of Canada’s Black and Indigenous physicians

Patricia Morley-Forster
CMAJ February 01, 2021 193 (5) E174; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.77491
Patricia Morley-Forster
Professor emerita, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Western University, London, Ont.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site

My first reaction on reading the article by Persaud and colleagues1 was to defend Dr. Osler’s racist statements, made in a different era, over 100 years ago. After all, I thought, no one can be perfect; he was simply a man of his time, not to mention an inspiring medical educator, responsible for promoting bedside teaching and patient-centred medicine. As I read further, however, I found myself in agreement with the authors’ major point. History, as written by white Europeans, has ignored the lives and distinguished accomplishments of Canada’s first Black and Indigenous physicians. They fought the endemic racism of 19th-century Canada to graduate as doctors and make a contribution to our society. We should definitely acknowledge their courage. Statues should be raised in their honour, and educational institutions should be named after them.

I like to think that, given the chance, Osler would reconsider his racist attitudes. One of his many pithy quotes was this: “One special advantage of the skeptical attitude of mind is that a man is never vexed to find that, after all, he has been in the wrong.”2

Footnotes

  • Competing interests: None declared.

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original publication is properly cited, the use is noncommercial (i.e. research or educational use), and no modifications or adaptations are made. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

References

    1. Persaud N,
    2. Butts H,
    3. Berger P
    . William Osler: saint in a “White man’s dominion”. CMAJ 2020;192: E1414–6.
    1. Osler W
    . An address on the treatment of disease. Br Med J 1909;2:185–9.

Content

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Collections
  • Sections
  • Blog
  • Podcasts
  • Alerts
  • RSS
  • Early releases

Information for

  • Advertisers
  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • CMA Members
  • CPD credits
  • Media
  • Reprint requests
  • Subscribers

About

  • General Information
  • Journal staff
  • Editorial Board
  • Advisory Panels
  • Governance Council
  • Journal Oversight
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Copyright and Permissions
  • Accessibiity
  • CMA Civility Standards
CMAJ Group

Copyright 2023, CMA Impact Inc. or its licensors. All rights reserved. ISSN 1488-2329 (e) 0820-3946 (p)

All editorial matter in CMAJ represents the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Canadian Medical Association or its subsidiaries.

To receive any of these resources in an accessible format, please contact us at CMAJ Group, 500-1410 Blair Towers Place, Ottawa ON, K1J 9B9; p: 1-888-855-2555; e: cmajgroup@cmaj.ca

Powered by HighWire