Osler, William, Sir, 1849-1919

Born in Ontario, Canada, Dr. Osler was received his medical from McGill University in 1872. He became Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine's first professor of medicine in 1889. Author of The Principles and Practices of Medicine (1892), Osler has been celled the father of psychosomatic medicine and the "most influential physician in history."

From the description of Sir William Osler press clippings, 1905-1920. (National Library of Medicine). WorldCat record id: 14312601

Physician, book collector and medical historian.

From the description of Papers, 1902-1917. (Duke University). WorldCat record id: 35201552

Born in Ontario, Canada, Dr. Osler was received his medical from McGill University in 1872. He became Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine's first professor of medicine in 1889. Author of The Principles and Practices of Medicine (1892), Osler has been called the father of psychosomatic medicine and the "most influential physician in history."

From the guide to the Sir William Osler Press Clippings, 1905-1920, (History of Medicine Division. National Library of Medicine)

Canadian physician.

From the description of Autograph letter signed : Rome, to Dr. Baldwin, 18th [n.d.]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270860089

Sir William Osler (1849 -- 1919) was a widely respected physician who trained in Canada. He believed in a holistic approach to medicine, as well as teaching through bedside training rather than classroom training alone. He was a teacher of medicine and prolific writer of medical texts.

From the description of William Osler collection of medical materials, 1890-1970. (University of Iowa Libraries). WorldCat record id: 237212667

Physician.

From the description of Letter of Sir William Osler, undated. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79453921

From the description of Letters, 1890-1919. (University of Iowa Libraries). WorldCat record id: 28412659

Born in 1849, Sir William Osler rose through the ranks of professional medicine eventually becoming one of the world's most renowned physicians. As chair of clinical medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in 1885, he helped found the American Association of Physicians. Later, in 1893, he helped establish the John Hopkins University School of Medicine. In 1905, he was appointed the Regius Chair of Medicine at Oxford University, where, in 1911, he received the honorary title of baronet. Throughout his career as an instructor, Osler developed a philosophy of medicine based on equal parts science and humanism. He insisted students talk and listen directly to patients, supplementing their classroom education with participatory residencies in hospital wards. Meanwhile, his many publications, including the much reprinted textbook, The principles and practices of medicine (1892), significantly contributed to the professionalization of medicine in the late nineteenth century. In addition to his medical career, Osler gained fame for his wit and humor. He published several satirical articles under the pseudonym, "Egerton Yorrick Davis." During his farewell speech at John Hopkins, he infamously suggested retired men should be chloroformed instead of burdening society. The self-deprecating remark made nation headlines, sparked debate, and further elevated Osler's notoriety

From the description of Papers of William Osler, 1893-1939. (Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens). WorldCat record id: 708898647

William Osler (b. 1849, Bond Head, Ontario) received his M.D. (1872) from McGill University School of Medicine. He studied in London, Berlin, and Vienna from 1872 to 1874. He joined the faculty of McGill University School of Medicine in 1874, leaving in 1884 to become professor of clinical medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Osler was recruited by John S. Billings in 1888 to be physician-in-chief of the soon-to-open Johns Hopkins Hospital and professor of medicine at the school of medicine being planned. He revolutionized the medical curriculum of the United States and Canada, combining the best of the English and German systems. He adapted the English system to egalitarian American principles by teaching all medical students at the bedside. Believing that students learn best by doing, he felt that clinical instructions should begin with the patient and conclude with the patient. He stressed that books were supportive tools to this end and required that all students do a rotation in the bacteriology laboratory. Osler introduced the German postgraduate training system, instituting a general internship of one year to be followed by a residency of several years. His book The Principles and Practice of Medicine, first published in 1892, was based upon the advances in medical science of the previous 50 years and remained the standard text on clinical medicine for the next 40 years. He left Johns Hopkins in 1905 to accept the Regius Professorship of Medicine at Oxford University."

The autograph letters from William Osler are addressed to Jesse Myer, Frank J. Lutz, Nathaniel Allison and George Dock who were faculty of the Medical Department of Washington University in the early decades of the twentieth century. Jesse Myer served a residency at Johns Hopkins University Hospital (1898) and was a member of the clinical faculty at Washington University in 1912. Osler wrote the introduction for Myer's classic book on William Beaumont, "The life and letters of William Beaumont. Nathaniel Allison, a native of St. Louis and M.D. at Harvard, returned in 1904 to start private practice in orthopedic surgery and join the faculty of the Medical Department of Washington University, later becoming dean (1919-1922). Nathaniel Allison was an organizer of Base Hospital 21 in World War I. Frank J. Lutz joined the faculty of Washington University School of Medicine in 1911, serving as Clinical Professor of Surgery (1911-1916). The medical congress referred to in the 1903 letter is a proposed world medical conference to be held during the St. Louis Worlds Fair, 1904. George Dock was one of Osler's favorite students (M.D. 1884, University of Pennsylvania). Dock served as professor of medicine at Washington University (1910-1922) and was dean (1910-1912) at the time the letters were written.

Sources: 1) Amer. Men & Women Sci, 1921 & 1933 [George Dock, William Osler]; 2) Lives of Master Surgeons, 1948, p. 12 [Nathaniel Allison]; 3) Finding aid to The William Osler Collection, 1849-1919, 15 linear feet, Repository Guide to the Personal Papers Collections of Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions http://www.medicalarchives.jhmi.edu/sgml/osler.html

From the description of William Osler correspondence collection, 1888-1919 1888-1919 (Washington University in St. Louis). WorldCat record id: 214103820

Sir William Osler, physician, clinician, and teacher, was born in Bond Head, Ontario, on 12 July 1849. In 1892, he married Grace Revere Gross, widow of physician S. W. Gross. They had one son, Edward Revere (d. 1917). Osler died in Oxford, England, of pleurisy, empyema, and pneumonia following bronchitis, on 29 Dec. 1919.

Osler received a B.A. from Trinity College in Toronto in 1868, then an M.D. from McGill University in 1872. From 1874 to 1884, he was Professor of the Institutes of Medicine at McGill. From 1884 to 1889, he taught clinical medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and had the oversight of two wards in the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He was also on the medical staff of Philadelphia Hospital, 1885-1889, and an Attending Physician at the Philadelphia Orthopaedic Hospital, 1887-1889. From 1889 to 1904, Osler was Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University where he helped to organize the medical school and promoted clinical instruction. In 1904, he was appointed Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford University and held this post until his death. Osler became a fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia in 1885.

From the description of Letters, 1885-1919. (College of Physicians of Philadelphia). WorldCat record id: 122488976