Life and Work
Macphail was born in Orwell, Prince Edward Island, on the family's newly-purchased 100-acre farm. His father was William Macphail, a schoolmaster; his mother was Catherine Moore Smith formerly of Newton, P.E.I.
Macphail was educated at Prince of Wales College in Charlottetown, and then at McGill University in Montreal, where he received his received his medical degree in 1891. "During his studies at McGill Macphail wrote reviews and articles for various newspapers, including the Montreal Gazette and the Chicago Times, and saved enough money to finance a trip around the world." He resumed his studies in England, where he became "a member of the Royal College of Surgeons and a licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians. He returned to Canada in 1892."
He married Georgina Burlan of Montreal in 1893. They had two children, Jeffrey and Dorothy.
From 1893 until 1905 Macphail practised medicine and taught at the University of Bishop' College. At Bishop's he was professor of the diseases of children. Beginning in 1895 he also served as a consulting pathologist at the city's Western and Verdun hospitals.
In 1903 he became editor of the Montreal Medical Journal; "when it merged with another medical periodical eight years later to establish the Canadian Medical Association Journal, Macphail was made editor of the new monthly." He was editor of the Journal until the outbreak of World War I.
He was appointed McGill's first Professor of the History of Medicine in 1907, and held that position until 1937.
Macphail enlisted in World War I at the age of 50, and served at the front with a field ambulance corps for 20 months. Assigned to the Sixth Field Ambulance, he "served with distinction at a number of battles including Vimy Ridge."
Read more about this topic: Andrew Macphail
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