Medical Education and Mission Work
Grenfell moved to London in 1882. He then commenced the study of medicine at the London Hospital Medical College (now part of Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry) under the tutelage of Sir Frederick Treves: he graduated in 1888.
The Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen sent Grenfell to Newfoundland in 1892 to improve the plight of coastal inhabitants and fishermen. That mission began in earnest in 1893 when he recruited two nurses and two doctors for hospitals at Indian Harbour, Newfoundland and later opened cottage hospitals along the coast of Labrador. The mission expanded greatly from its initial mandate to one of developing schools, an orphanage, cooperatives, industrial work projects, and social work. Although originally founded to serve the local fishermen the mission developed to include the aboriginal peoples and settlers along the coasts of Labrador and the eastern side of the Great Northern Peninsula of northern Newfoundland. For his years of service on behalf of the people of these communities he was later knighted. He had two sons and a daughter. Grenfell died of a coronary thrombosis at Kinloch House on 9 October 1940, and his ashes were brought to St Anthony, where they were placed inside a rock face overlooking the harbour.
Read more about this topic: Wilfred Grenfell
Famous quotes containing the words medical, education, mission and/or work:
“Often, we expect too much [from a nanny]. We want someone like ourselves—bright, witty, responsible, loving, imaginative, patient, well-mannered, and cheerful. Also, we want her to be smart, but not so smart that she’s going to get bored in two months and leave us to go to medical school.”
—Louise Lague (20th century)
“Law without education is a dead letter. With education the needed law follows without effort and, of course, with power to execute itself; indeed, it seems to execute itself.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
“It is the mission of the twentieth century to elucidate the irrational.”
—Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1907–1961)
“In a world where women work three times as hard for half as much, our achievement has been denigrated, both marriage and divorce have turned against us, our motherhood has been used as an obstacle to our success, our passion as a trap, our empathy for others as an excuse to underpay us.”
—Erica Jong (20th century)