When I graduated with an MD degree from the University of Toronto in 1984, there was never any doubt in my mind that I would end up at McGill.
I was 23 years old, and my life had now come full circle: I had entered the world at the Toronto General Hospital; I had gone to medical school and had done my clinical clerkship at the Toronto General Hospital; and the last thing I wanted was to spend the rest of my life chained to the same institution of my birth and undergraduate medical education – like so many who had come before me.
Although I didn’t know anybody at McGill, my command of French was reasonably good, and I knew how to ski in the East. A busy surgical internship at the Montreal General Hospital quickly changed both my pronunciation of French and the amount of time I had available for the slopes. Still, I was able to cultivate a few lifelong friendships that year.
Of course, McGill was not without its minor drawbacks: hypothermic trudges across the McTavish Reservoir in the dead of winter and wallpaper in the lobby of the Montreal General Hospital that hadn’t changed since the 1950s. But at least there was an ATM machine, so I always had enough cash to pay for a haircut (busy call schedule permitting). Best of all, everything that was either fun and/or tasted good was nearby: Crescent Street, Rue Sainte-Catherine, Ben’s, Beauty’s, Schwartz’s, and the Montreal Pool Room.
It’s been over three decades now since I sang “Hail, Alma Mater” and what really stands out is how my years at McGill were so life changing. McGill is where my independence and self-worth really took off. It’s where I worked the hardest in my life, where I started a young family and where I launched a neurosurgical career.
Meanwhile, back at The Neuro, my former program director, Gilles Bertrand, just celebrated his 97th birthday. Brenda Milner is going full tilt at 103. And Hanna Pappius (the youngest of the bunch) just turned 96. These McGillian gods (actually, one god and two goddesses) of the neurosciences are eternal! Long through the ages remain – if God will; Queen of the Colleges, Dear Old McGill.