Queen's University - Department of Family Medicine

The Queen's Department of Family Medicine originated with five small rooms a half-century ago in Kingston General Hospital.

It began as the Family Care Unit, which opened in September 1967 in the corridor next to the hospital’s Emergency and Out-Patient departments. It was a small space, with three exam rooms and two offices. Dr. David Alexander, a paediatrician, and Dr. Rod Dingwall, a general practitioner, were appointed by the Departments of Paediatrics and Internal Medicine respectively to start a model general practice for teaching medical students and residents in family medicine.

That same year, the College of Family Physicians of Canada began working with the 16 university Faculties of Medicine across the country to establish postgraduate residency training programs leading to a certification examination in Family Medicine after two years.

In 1969, under the direction of Dr. J. B. Stalker, the Family Care Unit was moved into the hospital’s Ann Baillie Building at 32 George St. The unit’s roster at the time was about 500 patients a month. (The Ann Baillie Building is now home to the Museum of Health Care, located in the Ann Baillie Building National Historic Site, a former residence for student nurses built in 1904.)

Dr. Ron Lees, Dr. Robert Steele and Dr. Reg Anderson, all from the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, along with others from this department as well as the Departments of Medicine and Paediatrics, opened practices at the unit’s new location. (It is reported that half of the unit’s staff was cross-appointed from Community Health and Epidemiology.) Dr. Peter Bell, now a family physician in Sharbot Lake, and Dr. M. Mehlomakulu, a Kingston paediatrician, were the first residents in 1969-70.

In the first half of the 20th century, most medical graduates were choosing to become specialists, rather than general practitioners. Hence, the unit’s focus on family care to address the need for community-based, comprehensive, continuing care for patients and their families marked the beginning of a new era.

Beyond the unit’s reflection of changing societal needs, it also addressed and alleviated a growing trend at the hospital – patients without a family doctor using the Emergency Department for non-emergency cases.

In 1973, the Family Care Unit received recognition from Queen's University and the College of Family Physicians of Canada, and the Department of Family Medicine at Queen's became official. Dr. Ernie Haynes was appointed as the first Professor and Head. He served eight years as Chair of Family Medicine, during which time his mandate was to enlarge the postgraduate residency program and oversee the construction of a Family Medicine Centre.

Dr. Haynes and Dr. Tony Johnson (who went on to become Department Head in 1981), soon spearheaded the introduction of optional third-year residency programs in Emergency Medicine and Anaesthesia, and expanded residency training to remote areas in Northern Ontario.

The Family Medicine Centre opened in November 1975 on Hotel Dieu Hospital property at 220 Bagot St. on the corner of Bagot and Johnson streets. It housed physicians, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, nutritionists, social workers and researchers – representing a collaborative approach to family medicine that would later be known as a Family Health Team. At the time of the centre’s opening, there were 18 residents in each of the first and second years, and nine in the optional third year.

As residency program graduates struck out into the community to begin their own practices, they were eager to become preceptors, themselves, and thus community teaching practices were established in Moose Factory, Sharbot Lake, Dryden, Picton, Napanee and Perth. Obstetrics training was expanded to include programs for residents in Belleville, Peterborough and Oshawa.

As the department continued to grow, Dr. Janet Sorbie became the first female faculty member in 1977. Her practice filled quickly, with 75 per cent female patients. Nine years later, she was Department Head.

By the mid 1980s, through funding from the Ministry of Community and Social Services, medical staff at the Rideau Regional Treatment Centre in Smiths Falls became members of the Department of Family Medicine. This partnership provided residents and medical students with the opportunity to learn about treatment of children born with severe mental and physical disabilities.

In September 1988, the North Kingston Community Health Centre opened at 400 Elliott Ave. Created to meet the needs of residents in this typically underserviced area of Kingston, it became one of the Department’s community teaching practices, helping to train residents and medical students with an interdisciplinary team approach.

The medical curriculum continued to evolve with the development of a Palliative Care Team, based out of Hotel Dieu Hospital. The Palliative Care Team comprised family physicians who saw the need for specialization in this area. The team included a nurse specialist, pharmacist, social worker and pastoral care, providing much-needed support to end-of-life patients and their families. The Palliative Care Team provided valuable training to residents who previously had little exposure to this area of specialization. This led the way to the development of the Care of the Elderly Program, and opened the door for development of a new medical curriculum that included expanded programs dedicated to Women's Health, Obstetrics and Aboriginal Health.

Several faculty members in the Department of Family Medicine have been extensively involved in the provision of medical aid to communities in war-torn countries abroad through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Through support from CIDA, the Queen's University Family Medicine Development Program in Bosnia and Herzegovina was born. This Family Medicine Program has expanded over time to include the Universities of Sarajevo, Tuzla, Mostar and Banuja Luka, providing training to residents, nurses and other healthcare professionals.

The Department of Family Medicine has now become a Family Health Team, supported by the Ontario Ministry of Health. This reform in primary health care enables groups of physicians and other health care professionals to provide consistent, multi-disciplinary patient care.

Another important milestone in the Department of Family Medicine story is the development of the Centre for Studies in Primary Care. With research funding from the Ministry of Health and Canadian Institutes of Health Research, a network for studies in primary care has been developed that includes physicians from Sharbot Lake, Napanee, Picton and Gananoque.

Together, the Centre for Studies in Primary Care research programs, Family Medicine programs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Family Health Team training experience in outlying communities make the Faculty of Medicine, Family Medicine Residency Program at Queen's the most popular in the country.

Queen’s School of Medicine: A Scrapbook of Memories 1954-2004, Compiled by Donald B. Jennings, Epic Press, 2004: pp 189-195, Evolution of the Department of Family Medicine, Dr. Janet Sorbie; page 183, The Evolution of Epidemiology at Queen’s University, Dr. Ronald E. M. Lees