Ray Farquharson
He served in the First and Second World Wars, earning appointment as a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his medical work during the latter.
He chaired the Penicillin Committee of Canada and served as a medical consultant for the Royal Canadian Air Force.
[2][3] "Farquy", as he was nicknamed by friends,[3] received his early education at Durham and graduated from Harbord Collegiate Institute in Toronto.
[2][5][6] He underwent post-graduate study in various fields from 1922 until 1927[7] while serving as an intern and resident at Toronto General Hospital under Duncan Archibald Graham.
[14] Prior to enlisting in the Second World War, he gave testimony as an expert medical witness in court martial trials.
[19] He supervised medical experiments involving penicillin therapy conducted in Ontario hospitals in 1943–1944,[20] and was temporarily appointed Director of Medicine at Christie St.
[21] After V-E Day, he travelled to Belgium to supervise the administration of penicillin therapy, and later became involved in the care and treatment of war veterans.
[22] Farquharson was the director of medicine for Toronto veterans' hospitals from 1945 to 1947, and at the same time served as president of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
[2][7] He was the first Canadian doctor to publicize Sheehan's syndrome, and the first North American to report on Simmond's disease.
[9][28] As an educator and researcher, he was an early promoter of laboratory testing in the evaluation of illness; he was known for advocating both this and awareness of potential psychological issues in patients.
[4][31] His "Farquharson Report" led to the formation of the Medical Research Council of Canada in 1960, over which he presided until his death.
[39] Farquharson won the National Heart Foundation's Award of Merit in 1960,[2] followed by the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association of Canada Health Research Foundation's Medal of Honour in 1964 "for his clinical assessment of antibiotics [and] service as a leading medical educator", becoming one of only 18 people to ever receive this award.
[3] He was also appointed a Knight of the Military and Hospitaller Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine in London.
[2] The University of Toronto held a memorial service commemorating his contributions to the school and the medical community.
[51] He was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 1998 alongside such notable figures as Tommy Douglas, Norman Bethune and Roberta Bondar.
[7] According to one memorial, "no Canadian since Sir William Osler has left as great an imprint upon the practice of Medicine".
