McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Department Reports
File
1.5 cm of textual records
Born in Spokane, Washington, Wilder Penfield received his B.Litt. from Princeton University in 1913 and was a Rhodes Scholar in Oxford (B.A.1916). He received his M.D. from Johns Hopkins in 1918. Studying under Sir Charles Sherrington at Oxford, Penfield became interested in the brain. From 1921 to 1928 he engaged in research and neurosurgery at the Presbyterian Hospital and served on the Medical Faculty of Columbia University. Appointed to the Medical Faculty of McGill University in 1928, he was Chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery from 1934 to 1960. An endowment from the Rockefeller Foundation enabled him to establish the Montreal Neurological Institute (M.N.I.), which opened in 1934. At the M.N.I. Penfield made many innovations in neurosurgery including a surgical treatment for epilepsy. He devoted much of his research to the study of the physiology of the brain, speech memory and sensation. Besides his numerous scientific publications, Penfield wrote two novels and participated in a large number of professional organizations. Dr. Penfield was a member of the Board of Curators of the Osler Library.
The file contains the departmental reports of the McGill Teaching Curriculum Committee. This includes reports on or from the departments of Biochemistry, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Ophthalmology, Health and Social Medicine, Department of Anatomy, Otolaryngology, Pediatrics, Physiology, Radiology, Surgery, Bacteriology, and Anaesthesia. There are several reports on teaching such as hours reported, class accommodations, number of teachers, type of teaching provided to undergraduates, and specifically the teaching of genetics to medical students. In addition, there is a letter discussing the introduction of medical students to the use of a medical library, a letter from Thomas W.M. Cameron to the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine about the course in Parasitology given at Macdonald College, and an Intra-departmental Committee report on the curriculum in Pharmacology by K.I. Melville.