HISTORY OF THE CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF GASTROENTEROLOGY History of the first 30 years of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology L’Association canadienne de gastroentérologie, les 30 premières années IVAN TBECK, MD, PHD, FRCPC, FACP, MACG N 1992 THE CANADIAN ASSOCIATION review the documents and remembered the Association, who indicated that Iof Gastroenterology (CAG) reached and relived some of the major events the Board of the CAG would like me to its 30th anniversary. Much has hap- which constitute the history of the write an extended book-size history of pened and many changes occurred dur- CAG, my enthusiasm rose, and I be- our first 30 years. I have now started ing the first 30 years of this came more and more involved and writing this manuscript. However this Association; this anniversary presented stimulated to write the chapter on the monograph may not be ready and avail- an opportune time to document some CAG for Dr Morley’s book. Once com- able to our membership for some time. of the major events that occurred dur- pleted, this was submitted and the book Therefore I decided to write this abbre- ing these years. was published in 1991 (1). viated form of our history, which can My stimulus to become involved in I feel that much has happened in be made available rapidly, hopefully for this undertaking was in 1989 when the 1990 and 1991 to warrant an extension your enjoyment. Some of this material Royal College of Physicians and Sur- to include the first 30 years of the CAG was included in the chapter of Dr Mor- geons of Canada (RCPSC) requested and thus finish the history at an impor- ley’s book and he gave me permission Dr Iain Cleator, our President, to con- tant anniversary. Furthermore, because to reuse this in the present text. The tribute a chapter to the book, Medical of the size of Dr Morley’s book, much of present article provides an extension Specialty Societies of Canada, edited by my research could not be included in on the chapter, and a considerable part Dr Tom M Morley (1). As I was the ar- the manuscript submitted to the Col- of this article is based on my research chivist and historian of the CAG, Dr lege. While I was writing the above carried out for the larger monograph Cleator and the Governing Board of chapter, I talked to several members of that I have now started to write. the Association requested that I should the Board, before I was approached by The present short essay on our his- prepare that chapter. Once I started to Dr Eldon Shaffer, the 29th President of tory has been compiled in the hope that younger members of the CAG will understand how some of the problems Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario Correspondence and reprints: Dr Ivan T Beck, Archivist and Historian, Canadian that the CAG is dealing with today Association of Gastroenterology, Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Physiology, Queen’s originated from what happened in the University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 5G2 past. I also hope that this history may CAN JGASTROENTEROL VOL 6NO 6NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1992 345 BECK TABLE 1 TABLE 2 TABLE 3 List of Canadian general internists and List of Canadian gastroenterologists Gastroenterologists who regularly at- surgeons who expressed a special in- who pioneered the subspecialty of gas- tended the Montreal-Interhospital Gas- terest in gastroenterology before 1950 troenterology in the early 1950s trointestinal Journal Club Edmonton Halifax Royal Victoria Dr Walter C MacKenzie Dr Robert C Dickson Richard D McKenna Kingston Dr Robert M MacDonald Miller C Ballem Dr Malcolm Brown Quebec Ivan T Beck Montreal Dr Jean-Paul Dugal Montreal General Dr Antonio Cantero Montreal Douglas G Kinnear Dr Yves Chaput Dr Richard D McKenna St Mary’s Dr Roger B Dufresne Dr Miller C Ballem Ivan T Beck Dr Gerald W Halpenny Dr Jacques O Gagnon Jeno Solymar Dr Paul Letendre* Dr Paul Letendre Maisonneuve Dr Gavin Miller Dr Morris Miller Florent Thibert Dr Clarence Tidmarsh* Dr Gordon Young Queen Elizabeth Dr Jacques Tremblay Toronto Robert Bourne Dr Saint-Jean Desrosiers* Dr Charles B Brown Jewish General Quebec Dr John R Bingham Morris Miller Dr Jean-Paul Dugal* Dr Louis J Cole Isadore W Weintrub Saskatoon Dr Robert C Dickson Verdun General Dr Douglas J Buchan Dr John M Finlay Jacques O Gagnon Toronto Dr Paul M O’Sullivan Hotel Dieu Dr John R Bingham Winnipeg Paul Letendre Dr Ernest E Cleaver Dr Duncan L Kippen Dr H Hetherington Dr Wendall McLeod Dr Ernest J Maltby Edmonton Dr Fred Rolph Dr J Alan L Gilbert sonal bias, I had to research everything Dr Keith J Roy Wightman Vancouver I state here and assess carefully what Vancouver Dr Abraham Bogoch Dr MM Baird was actually written in the minutes and Dr E Christopherson the correspondences, and what I seem Dr Rocke Robertson to have remembered. Dr Roger Wilson Another question that I had to de- Winnipeg with the Association for such a long cide on was whether I should write this Dr Neil John McLean time. I was one of the founding mem- as a personal recollection, and thus Dr C Burton Stewart bers of the CAG and served as its first write about my own contributions in Dr PHT Thorlakson Secretary from 1961 to 1965. After this the first person (eg, I suggested ) or in *Indicates that their practice consisted mainly of pa- I was elected Vice-President, then a more detached fashion (eg, sug - tients with gastroenterological problems President-Elect and finally President in gested by Dr Beck ). I decided on the 1967. Following this I was on the Gov- second approach so that the history erning Board as Past-President in 1968 should not only be written in an unbi- and as Chairman of different commit- ased fashion, but should also appear to help our recent members to understand tees on and off between 1968 and 1980. be so. Another decision I had to make the basic philosophy of the Association In 1980, mainly because of my intimate was whether to use short names for peo- and help them to appreciate how, in knowledge of the CAG’s background, I ple I have known very well (eg, Dick spite of its shortcomings, the CAG has was asked to serve as archivist and his- McKenna versus Dr Richard D contributed to the development of Ca- torian, and as such I am a nonvoting McKenna ). To make this history fac- nadian gastroenterology. member of the Board. Still, I have been tual but still easy to read, I have de- At the same time, more senior mem- present at most of the major discus- cided that after having referred to the bers of the Association will relive some sions, and was able to contribute to short names in brackets at the first oc- of the exciting times when they and some of these. casion of mentioning the name of a their colleagues were involved in the Thus, I found that in writing this re- person, to use intermittently either the creation and the development of the view I have had some difficulties deal- full or short names of the participants. ideas that founded the basis of the fu- ing only with what is written in the Hopefully, in addition to making this ture evolution of our Association. minutes and correspondences, without short synopsis accurate, I have suc- At first I found it difficult to write an remembering the discussions that oc- ceeded to make it pleasurable and easy unbiased history of the CAG. This curred around most of the decisions to read. mainly is because I have been involved made. Therefore, in order to avoid per- 346 CAN JGASTROENTEROL VOL 6NO 6NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1992 History of the CAG Figure 2) Seal of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology among Canadians from all parts of the country was one of the factors which provided impetus for establishment of the CAG. Another group which was instru- mental in starting the CAG was the Montreal Interhospital Gastrointesti- nal Journal Club. Meetings of this group were held in Dr McKenna’s home where, in a pleasant atmosphere, Montreal gastroenterologists (English and French) exchanged information on exciting new developments in the field (Table 3). One evening, after a Journal Club meeting, Dick McKenna, Figure l) Document of incorporation of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology/L’As- Douglas (Doug) Kinnear and Ivan sociation canadienne de gastroenterologie. Signatures: Drs Richard D McKenna, Ivan T Beck started to plan the establishment Beck, Douglas G Kinnear, Paul Letendre, Robert C Dickson, Robert M MacDonald, Malcolm of the CAG. Dick McKenna wrote to Brown, KJR Wightman, Walter C MacKenzie, Eric M Nanson, A Bogoch, Duncan M Kippen his friends and soon reported that there was encouraging interest throughout the country. ORGANIZATION OF eases, advances in gastroenterology On June 21, 1961, this interested THE ASSOCIATION during the past 40 years were rapid. group met at the meeting of the Cana- During the 1950s, a younger group dian Medical Association (CMA) at Foundation of the Association of physicians who confined their prac- the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal Specialization in the different areas tice to gastroenterology (Table 2) and decided to establish the Canadian of internal medicine was not encour- started to feel that there was a need for Association of Gastroenterology/L’As- aged in Canada during the first half of a subspecialty society. At first, the an- sociation canadienne de gastroenté- this century. There were, however, in nual meeting of the American Gastro- rologie. The Association was to be most major cities, physicians and sur- enterological Association (AGA) was built on broad principles.