Sir William Osler

The Canadian physician Sir William Osler (1849-1919) was outstanding in the principles and practice of medicine, contributed writings of classical quality, and collected an impressive library on the history of medicine.

William Osler was born in Tecumseh, Ontario, on July 12, 1849. His father was a clergyman, so his upbringing was in a religious atmosphere. The influence of Thomas Huxley and Charles Darwin, however, turned him toward agnosticism in his days at Trinity College, Toronto. He studied to be a doctor, first at the Toronto School of Medicine and then at McGill University, where he graduated in 1872. Further studies were at University College, London, and at medical centers in Berlin and Vienna. After returning to Canada he accepted the chair of physiology and pathology at McGill, where he continued research in pathology, working on freshwater polyzoa and parasites; he studied hog cholera in 1878-1880.

Osler held the chair of clinical medicine at the University of Pennsylvania from 1884 to 1889, when he went to Baltimore as professor of the principles and practice of medicine and as physician-in-chief at the university hospital. There he joined William H. Welch, William Halsted, and Howard Kelly to form a brilliant medical team sometimes called the "Big Four" of Johns Hopkins. In 1905 Osler was appointed regius professor of medicine at Oxford University, England. However, he remained in constant demand at home and abroad for lectures. The classical flavor of his speech and writing, combined with its wit and insight, has hardly been equaled among medical scholars. He also collected an unusual medical history library of rare books. His library room was transported and restored at the McGill Medical School in Montreal to preserve intact his valuable collection.

Many distinctions and honors came Osler's way, including a baronetcy in 1911. His humanitarianism was exemplified by his criticism of war, which took the life of his only child, Revere, in 1917. Osler died at Oxford on Dec. 29, 1919.

Osler's books include Principles and Practice of Medicine (1892), an inimitable textbook for many years because of its thoroughness, style, bits of wisdom, and human touches. It went through numerous editions and was printed in 4 languages. Other significant works were Science and Immortality (1904) and A Way of Life (1914).

Further Reading

A biography of Osler that won the Pulitzer Prize for its physician-author in 1926 is Harvey Cushing, The Life of Sir William Osler (2 vols., 1925). Edith Gittings Reid, The Great Physician: A Short Life of Sir William Osler (1931), is largely for popular reading. Other biographies are Walter Reginald Bett, Osler: The Man and the Legend (1951); Viola Whitney Pratt, Famous Doctors: Osler, Banting, Penfield (1956); and Iris Noble, The Doctor Who Dared, William Osler (1959).

Additional Sources

Howard, R. Palmer, The chief, Doctor William Osler, Canton, MA, U.S.A.: Science History Publications, 1983.

Wagner, Frederick B., The twilight years of Lady Osler: letters of a doctor's wife, Canton, MA: Science History Publications, U.S.A., 1985. □

Osler, William (1849–1919), physician and medical educator.Osler was born at Bond Head, Canada, the son of the Reverend Featherstone Lake Osler and Ellen Free Picton Osler. He graduated in medicine from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, in 1872 and after studies abroad returned to McGill as professor of the institutes of medicine in 1874. In 1884 he moved to the University of Pennsylvania, and in 1889 he was appointed professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University and physician in chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Drawing on European models, Osler introduced to the Johns Hopkins Medical School, which opened in 1893, a system of clinical clerkships that put a premium on bedside instruction. A charismatic teacher, he became a role model for a generation of U.S. medical students. His influence was further extended through his best‐selling textbook, The Principles and Practice of Medicine (1892), and numerous essays on the medical life. In 1905 he became Regius Professor at Oxford and in 1911 was made a baronet. In England, Osler and his wife made their home a haven for a generation of Rhodes scholars and other visiting Americans. He died at Oxford in 1919.

A clergyman's son, Osler became a high priest of modern medicine and contributed greatly to America's rise to international medical prominence. His patient‐centered teaching and his genteel, bibliophilic scholarship inspired later medical humanists. His legacy is perpetuated through various clubs, lectureships, and the American Osler Society.
See also Medical Education; Medicine: From the 1870s to 1945; Welch, William H.

Bibliography

Harvey Cushing , The Life of Sir William Osler, 2 vols. 1925.
Michael Bliss , William Osler: A Life in Medicine, 1999.

Michael Bliss

Sir William Osler , 1849–1919, Canadian physician, M.D. McGill Univ., 1872. Renowned as a physician and as a medical historian, he was also the most brilliant and influential teacher of medicine in his day. He was professor at McGill (1875–84), the Univ. of Pennsylvania (1884–89), Johns Hopkins (1889–1904), and Oxford (from 1905). In 1911 he was knighted. His many medical observations include those on blood platelets and on the abnormally high red blood cell count in polycythemia. He wrote The Principles and Practice of Medicine (1892), one of the most prestigious medical textbooks in modern times, often revised, and A Concise History of Medicine (1919).

Bibliography: See Aphorisms from His Bedside Teachings and Writings (W. B. Bean, ed. 1950); biographies by H. Cushing (1925) and E. G. Reid (1931); bibliography by R. L. Golden and C. G. Roland (1988).