Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 7, 1990, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press january 1990 Page 16 Chuck features editor Joe Doupe blended science and clinical teaching on his return from War in Winnipeg struggling medical school received an injection of new life when scientist and army doctor Joe Doupe came Home from the he assembled the schools first research group in took Over the physiology launching a school of Young scholars into the search for new this is an excerpt from Joe bedside Phy Siolo by free press editorial writer Terence it is one of the Canadian medical lives chapter six Back to Winnipeg mail from Winnipeg brought John Doupe news of the faculty of Medicine of the University of Mani his old school had never recovered from the loss of its Rockefeller endowment in 1932 and the accompanying economic de Alvin who had watched the schools financial foun Dation collapse less than a year after he was appointed was constantly reminded of the Lack of Mathers could have improved the school by taking the Best qualified students who but preferred to keep what he considered a suitable balance among the religions and he turned away Well Quali fied applicants because he wished to limit the numbers of mennonites and into each first year class of approximately 60 students he Al Lowed about four each of East europeans and because of the shortage of Money and few of the teach ers at that time carried out re search and none attracted research Par time teachers were Busy with clinical full time teachers barely had time for their undergraduate few teachers in the school except the biochemist Cameron were trained in the methods of Labora tory in May 1944 the faculty asked Cameron How they should Start a program of six months later they accepted his plan to seek funds for fellowships so that Stu dents could serve As research assistants while working for the Bach Elor of science in Medicine they also decided to seek a re searcher of International stature for the chair of experimental medi they would still have to find Laboratory facilities to accommodate him and Money for his while the school was laying its plans for it was also coming under fire for its discriminatory admission a jewish organization described the schools quota system to a committee of the provincial legislature in March and asked for its the University Board of governors promptly invited associations rep resenting the mennonite and ukrainian communities to help write a new medical school admission the Board removed Dean Mathers from the chairman ship of the admissions installing the president of the University in his in december the Board added a line to its regulations saying that admission to the medical school would be granted without regard to race or Dean Mathers continued strenuously defending the quota system which he had been operating since he protested vigorously at faculty Council meet Ings and in correspondence within the University against the increase in the number of jewish medical students which resulted in 1945 from the new Albert True president of the began looking for a new Dean of former teacher Doupe heard of the schools wish to hire a research director and he May have heard of other events at the perhaps from his former Lennox Bell was still teaching in the department of medi Cine and knew of the faculty de sire to find a research Doupe wrote to Mathers from India in february offering his services As Leader of medical research in the Winnipeg medical he made no direct refer ence to the schools plan to hire a professor of experimental medi but he criticized the the usual kind of research director in a medical he has no Prospect for the other departments of the school leave research to the research depart ment and do none the cd Sideh v i y research Doupe has no Contact with the undergrad who need to be trained for Doupe proposed a slightly different Post an adviser in Clini Cal research who would stimulate research by medical school teach ers and doctors practising in the teaching the adviser would make labs help design and prepare papers for he would conduct informal discussion groups for students and faculty members to study reports of research in the scientific he would have his own lab and Access to patients in the when his own re search ideas ran dry he would still have a function in supporting the research of As it turned the letter prophesied the course of coupes career during his remain ing Twenty Mathers received this scrawled on an airmail form in coupes scarcely legible he decided he had More pressing con Cerns to worry the dispute Over his quota system was about to reach a showdown in the selection of a new firs year Mathers considered it unfair to Anglo saxons that jewish Sim ply because of High could win places in medical school out of proportion to the number of jews in his writings on the subject during 1944 and 1945 show great agitation of mind about the provincial government was at the same time putting Forward a new health policy for Rural Manitoba it prophesied the course of coupes that would require rethinking of the medical curriculum and the train ing of new kinds of paramedical in the midst of these new de mands on his Mathers had Little attention to spare for coupes in his last interview with a dozen years he had listened to a Long Harangue against the undergraduate teach now interfering from was offering unsolicited criticism of the research in any Mathers considered that the school had no Money to pay either a professor of experimental Medicine or an adviser in clinical he sent Doupe no an Doupe wrote to Mathers on May to say with a touch of sarcasm while his earlier letter had presumably been he would not trouble to repeat its he had decided since he that the research Leader in the school should work in the physiology department where he could perform clinical and Hope for academic he pressed for an indication of his employment prospects at the Winnipeg medical Mathers replied in Early july with a he wrote that he had received both the february and May letters and had passed the first one to a colleague in the coupes proposal was sex but the school had no Money and no True Hope of finding coupes qualifications were also excellent and if an opening came the school would certainly consider no Prospect the Deans response seemed to show Doupe had no Prospect of work at the Winnipeg medical was not coupes following the japanese surrender in he returned to Britain to rejoin Nona and the he arrived in Winnipeg at the end of still in but expecting imminent he was a dramatically changed Joe Doupe from the one who had crowned his Way through medical school a dozen years Mathers met found a deeply serious scholar and Battlefield Doc and warmed to the idea of hiring the Dean was encouraged further by a letter from one of his most distinguished Alum the physiologist Charles coupes classmate and who wrote from urging him to hire but Mathers still did not know where to turn for knew where to Bell brought Doupe to visit Paul Thorlakson of the Winnipeg clinic and outlined the prob How Thorlakson in would Doupe need five thousand a year for three Doupe a masterful did not actually have that but nevertheless promised to put up within 10 the chairman of the University Board of governors told Thorlakson the next Day that the University would match the support from the Doupe made formal application to Mathers for the Post of director of the depart ment of clinical and then visited Ottawa in late january to solicit Money from the National research once Money was Mathers objections in Early at his the seven member faculty consisting of Mathers and his inner Circle of medical formally asked the Board of governors of the University to create a depart ment of medical research and to hire Doupe As the Board of governors approved in Early with the promised contributions from the Winnipeg the University and the coupes department had enough income to pay his own salary with he put the word out that he was the head of physiology at Queens University in recommended William who was then near ing the end of medical internship in Perry had completed a Mcgill degree in biochemistry and a masters degree in pharmacology at Queens before starting medical and was wondering where his career would go Doupe hired sent him a Cheque for travel and told him to visit centres in Montreal and Boston to see what researchers there were discovering about the thyroid Perry became the Winnipeg departments the re searcher and teacher in endocrine glands and the Hor Mones they produce to regulate the activity of other collaborating during the next few years with workers in the department of Medicine and in other in found How to use radioactive Iso Topes of iodine to observe the function of the thyroid because of this Winnipeg doctors from 1950 on diagnosed and treated at a much earlier stage than before two common conditions overactive and underactive thyroid when Perry reached Winnipeg in the fall of Doupe asked him about other Perry mentioned the test Man at his his Marco a belgian born medical graduate who had lived in Canada since he was like had completed degrees in both biochemistry and after his Queens Blanchar went to work As a graduate student in biochemistry at Marquette uni act Blanchar heard from Perry that Doupe was an interest ing Man to work he heard from Doupe that a specialized Laboratory Lor studying nutrition was sitting Idle in the medical waiting for someone to come and work in Doupe hired and Blanchar arrived in Winnipeg in february bringing the departments strength to Robert Beamish had earned his Manitoba my in 1942 and a Csc med in after two years medical service in the Canadian he was Back in nominally attached to a surgical later named the Manitoba though he found Little de Mand for his services he visited Doupe in the summer of 1946 in coupes cramped office in the and showed him two research papers he had written in medical together they decided it was Worth finding out Why patients with heart disease Sofiea Felt As though they had they spent a few weeks air hoses Down patients throats and into their and Ihetu pumping measured annuals of air in to see if it changed her Doupe and Beamish Sli puzzling Over their Reskus Britain Nuffield began offering postgraduate Fediow ships to with coupes won a nut and went to in in the Uli if 3917 for two of up Vehe he was Doupe wrote to him to meet two medical he was trying to Doupe had met the Toronto i raised during military it when commanded a ambulance and a thief the com unsure the troops Ile Hildes studied for an mkt in London and did seun on carbohydrate Afier Lieam 7 y7 7 t j v he denes offer to of Iii i pm depart tit her in Mil had earned his he a in the use of in by lie i uni ital ii lies Al and frequent club with old Carmi Llen e ii Skaare in i h that would be t Fine place to lie Ashiley Thomson had taken his Maui us i in and had then set it in ii sufi Al work in army and As so Reid Sci the if and ins hit Surgi Cal inc Quai i Olivics that swim la Dis Ulii ii began in Kinaj i Cru eur he was ais1 u Viliy surgical i Terni i came Terri Bly i k in tiie clays even i i Lucia had been he who j t a oneyear re Iii Chi the life insure h Hutu fora i f in it re Sui in ii Iiri and a e a Mouv Thomson in in the Scovie the Spring til i the Bio i years i t i is i Furchi the 1 Lound Ilioiu e taken Lulu Wiio he t i the school had won its last Large gift in 1921 from the generosity of the Rockefeller with its the school had become it had turned in upon and relied upon the meagre resources which Winnipeg could with the Markle award in Manitoba medical school was connected once again to the great North american medical finance sources which make it their business to recognize Good institutions and help them Confidence the award was for but it also reflected coupes coach it showed Confidence that the Manitoba school was a place where a promising Young medical re searcher could do important by the Spring of the school was looking for a new physiology head since coupes undergraduate retired in the Spring of 1947 and Rice took his Rice was clearly complaining of Low pay and a heavy teaching quit in May Doupe promptly told the Dean he wanted the his research he would teach did not want at length offered to make Doupe acting head until he could find a permanent appoint at that the new president of the took direct he had his own sources of advice about the medical he came downtown from his office on the University main Campus in fort Garry on january to inform the medi Cal faculty executive that Doupe was not their new acting head of he was their permanent Gillson would listen to Opin ions about a name for the merged departments of physiology and medical but he would not hear debate about the appointment of to Complete the conversion of his research department into a physiology Doupe wanted More he turned to an old family Marion Fer who had been technical assistant to the pathologist William Boyd in the Winnipeg general hos Pital before the War and biochemistry lab technician for Ca Meron during the since the wars end she had been in by 1949 she was about to finish an Edinburgh University pad based on her research on kidney function at the Edinburgh Royal Doupe hired her to teach renal in july Doupe called Pone Mah Beach on Lake Winnipeg to ask Robert newly re turned from two years of postgraduate training in to join the department As teacher and re searcher on the circulation of the by Beamish had agreed to stay at the Manitoba clinic at an increased salary of a which was More than Doupe could one further obstacle remained before Doupe was free to fulfil the plan he had outlined in february the Dean still lacked Confidence in the Board and the president of the University soon removed that Gillson attended the medical faculty executive in March to announce through an inexplicable the University had never enacted the mandatory retirement at age 60 that was obviously necessary for clinical teachers since they had to retire from Hospital appointments Al that that policy was now being established and so Dean Mathers would be though he could stay on and teach psychiatry if he Mathers did not see the logic of this policy but had to accept Gillson did not invite the medical faculty to choose a new he sought the advice he wanted and chose a teacher in the department of Medicine who had always liked and who had probably persuaded him to return 10 Winnipeg in 1945 and when Doupe came looking for a had made sure he was by the time classes started in september Doupe had his team of researchers organized to teach physiology and his Dean was his old teacher and family Friend Lennox as6ociaicd medical bar vials Lut Hannah inn rite i of it 01 Medicine ;