Thomas McCrae (December 16, 1870 – June 30, 1935) was professor of Medicine at

Jefferson Medical College Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. The university is ...

, and student and later colleague of Sir

William Osler Sir William Osler, 1st Baronet, (; July 12, 1849 – December 29, 1919) was a Canadian physician and one of the "Big Four" founding professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Osler created the first Residency (medicine), residency program for speci ...

. Often quoted in medical training for his remark "more is missed by not looking than not knowing". He was the brother of

John McCrae Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae (November 30, 1872 – January 28, 1918) was a Canadian poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during World War I and a surgeon during the Second Battle of Ypres, in Belgium. He is best known for writing th ...

, author of "

In Flanders Fields "In Flanders Fields" is a war poem in the form of a rondeau, written during the First World War by Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae. He was inspired to write it on May 3, 1915, after presiding over the funeral of friend ...

Early life and medical training

Thomas McCrae was born in

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

, Ontario, Canada to Lieutenant-Colonel David McCrae and Janet Simpson Eckford McCrae. McCrae trained in medicine at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, obtaining his Doctorate of Medicine in 1903.Fonds Level Description – Osler Library Archives – Osler Library of the History of Medicine
at www.health.library.mcgill.ca He became an assistant resident at

Johns Hopkins Hospital Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1889, Johns Hopkins Hospital and its school of medicine are considered to be the foundin ...

in 1895 in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, Maryland and was later joined by his brother in 1899. It was there that he became associated with Dr William Osler (later Sir William) who was the "pre-eminent medical educator of his time". McCrae's association with Osler continued with their collaboration in ''

The Principles and Practice of Medicine ''The Principles and Practice of Medicine: Designed for the Use of Practitioners and Students of Medicine'' is a medical textbook by Sir William Osler. It was first published in 1892 by D. Appleton & Company, while Osler was professor of Medici ...

'', an authoritative medical text at the time. McCrae was initially assistant editor, but later became the editor of this text upon Osler's death.

Later career

In 1912 he became Professor of Medicine at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. He was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1914. "In 1924, he was Lumleian lecturer at the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He was chairman of the Section on Practice of Medicine of the

American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is an American professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. This medical association was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was 271,660 ...

, 1914–1915. From 1916 to 1925 he was secretary of the

Association of American Physicians The Association of American Physicians (AAP) is an honorary medical society founded in 1885 by the Canadian physician Sir William Osler and six other distinguished physicians of his era for "the advancement of scientific and practical medicine ...

and in 1930 its president." McCrae died in 1935 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

with no children to survive him and wife Amy Marian Gwyn. He is described in an obituary in the

Canadian Medical Association Journal The ''Canadian Medical Association Journal'' (French ''Journal de l'Association Médicale Canadienne'') is a peer-reviewed open-access general medical journal published by the Canadian Medical Association. It publishes original clinical research ...

as a "deep student, a fine clinician, a great teacher".

References

* "Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae" on ''Veterans' Affairs Canada

* Box 149 and 151 Photograph Albums in ''The Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives at The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions

* "Thomas McCrae Fonds" in the ''Osler Library Archive Collections

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCrae, Thomas 1870 births 1935 deaths Johns Hopkins Hospital physicians Physicians from Ontario University of Toronto alumni Members of the American Philosophical Society