The Emergence of Psychiatry at McGill

Abstract

Psychiatric services in Canada lagged behind other medical disciplines until World War II emphasized the need for psychiatrists in the Armed Forces. This led to steps being taken to fulfil this need. At McGill, a new Department of Psychiatry, centered at the Allan Memorial, was established in 1943, due to the vision of Dean Jonathan Meakins and the influence of Dr. Wilder Penfield. P. Ewen Cameron was chosen as the first Director and set up services in affiliation with the Royal Victoria Hospital and McGill. His energy and organizational abilities led to the creation of an Institution which had a pathfinder function for post war services in clinical psychiatry, embracing also biological and social research. He soon recruited such able European scholars as Miguel Prados and Karl Stern and shortly thereafter the eminent psychologist R. B. Malmo and as physician endocrinologist, myself. Forward looking programs such as the day hospital, an open door policy, teaching programs and units for research in geriatric psychology and biochemistry were set up. By the 50's, psychiatry units were also established in other general hospitals and a close affiliation with the Verdun Protestant Hospital was fostered. Therefore H.E. Lehmann pushed clinical psychiatry into a new phase, as he led the field in psychopharmacology. Senior staff expanded with the acquisition of Eric Wittkower and V.A. Kral and the psychoanalysts, J. and F. Aufreiter, MacLeod and W.C.M. Scott. The success of the training system was such that able graduates moved to positions of responsibility in the rest of Canada. Furthermore, outstanding research emerged from the work of Lehmann, Kral, Wittkower, Saffron, Sourkes and Birmingham. The emphasis on research had great advantages for the cultivation of an academic atmosphere.