Although pathology at McGill’s teaching hospitals famously began with William Osler, he left Montreal before the medical school had established a pathology department.
To explore the early history of academic pathology and its leadership at McGill, with a primary focus on the second department head, Horst Oertel.
Available primary and secondary historical resources were reviewed.
John George Adami, the first professor of pathology, recruited Oertel in 1914, and Oertel became acting department head when Adami enlisted. At the end of World War I, Adami did not return, and Oertel was appointed department head. In the early 1920s, using Rockefeller Foundation and other philanthropic funding, Oertel oversaw the establishment of a new McGill Pathological Institute; unfortunately, he based the institute upon an autopsy-centric 19th-century German model, even though surgical pathology and clinical pathology were beginning to blossom elsewhere in North America. As a result, McGill missed an opportunity to lead in these arenas. The paper dissects Oertel’s fascinating but tumultuous professional career at McGill, including his battles with renowned neurosurgeon/neuropathologist Wilder Penfield, medical museum/congenital heart disease specialist Maude Abbott, and McGill’s Dean of Medicine Charles Martin, who expected the newly created institute to raise the faculty’s research profile by promoting collaborative clinical research. Oertel was a legendary educator who wove history, philosophy, and humanities into his pathology lectures.
Oertel’s legacy at McGill was mixed. Although he was considered strong academically, more forward-looking and collaborative leadership could have positioned McGill near the forefront of North American pathology.
Competing Interests
The author has no relevant financial interest in the products or companies described in this article.