title: William Fulton Gillespie, 1891-1949: transitional figure in western Canadian academic surgery.
abstract: The professional life of William Fulton Gillespie, third professor of surgery at the University of Alberta (1939-49) and tenth president of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (1947-49), exemplifies a critical transitional period in Canadian postgraduate surgical training and in western Canadian academic surgery. This article explores the background, the training, the professional career, and the personal character of a surgical scholar and student of the humanities and arts, a man who was thrust into the professorship of surgery in a maturing western Canadian medical school following the financial restraints of the Great Depression and during the challenges faced as a result of the World War II.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Macbeth
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers / Q000266:history*; D002170:Canada; D005180:Faculty, Medical / Q000266:history*; D013502:General Surgery / Q000266:history*; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D017009:Professional Autonomy; D012577:Schools, Medical / Q000266:history*