Ian Renwick McWhinney (11 October 1926 – 28 September 2012) was an English physician and academic known as Canada's "Founding Father of Family Medicine" for his work in creating a

family medicine Family medicine is a medical specialty that provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family across all ages, genders, diseases, and parts of the body. The specialist, who is usually a primary care physician, is ...

program at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

Early life

Born in

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, he studied at

Cheltenham College Cheltenham College is a public school ( fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1841 as a Church of England foundation and is known for its outstanding linguis ...

from 1940 to 1944. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served with the Royal Army Medical Corps. After the war, he studied at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

and at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

Medical career

He practiced family medicine with his father in

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon (district), Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of Engl ...

for thirteen years. He was inspired by particularly two articles, the work of James MacKenzie and a paper about postgraduate teaching in family practice in the ''New England Journal of Medicine''. These led him to author his first book, ''The Early Signs of Illness: Observations in General Practice'' in 1964 and then gain a Nuffield Traveling Fellowship in family medicine with Robert Haggerty at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. By 1968, he had moved his family away from his father and to the

as the first chair of family medicine in Canada. He became admired as the ‘Osler’ of Canadian family physicians. He published around 110 articles during his lifetime and is best remembered for his influential ''A Textbook of Family Medicine''. In 1989, he published '' Introduction to Family Medicine ''()'' ''which is now in its third edition. In his last years, he worked tirelessly on his writings; his memoir'', "A Call to Heal: Reflections on a Life in Family Medicine"'' () was published posthumously in 2013''.'' In 1997, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

. In 2000, he was awarded honorary degrees from the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

and the

. In 2006, he was inducted into the

Canadian Medical Hall of Fame __NOTOC__ The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame is a Canadian charitable organization, founded in 1994, that honours Canadians who have contributed to the understanding of disease and improving the health of people. It has an exhibit hall in London, ...

Death and legacy

McWhinney died on 28 September 2012. The Ian McWhinney Family Medicine Education Award is presented to a unique, innovative teacher of family medicine who has demonstrated impact in Canada.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McWhinney, Ian 1926 births People from Burnley 2012 deaths 20th-century English medical doctors English expatriates in Canada Officers of the Order of Canada Military personnel from Lancashire Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Alumni of the Medical College of St Bartholomew's Hospital Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Academic staff of the University of Western Ontario British Army personnel of World War II Royal Army Medical Corps soldiers Members of the National Academy of Medicine