The President's Office fonds includes records of the earliest days of Medicine at UBC.
Dr. John H. MacDermot was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1883. He completed his high school education there and, in 1901, enrolled in medical school at McGill University. In 1905, he was licensed to practice and moved to British Columbia the following year. MacDermot accepted the post as a physician with the Columbia Coast Mission in 1907. He worked at several hospitals along the British Columbia coast and aboard the hospital ship MS Columbia. In 1909, he moved to Vancouver and maintained a private practice until his retirement in 1958. He was also was editor of the *British Columbia Medical Journal* from 1959 to 1967. Beginning in 1962, he began research for writing a history of the medical profession in British Columbia. He was supported by William C. Gibson and the UBC Department of the History of Medicine and Science. The project was overseen by the Coordinating Committee of the History of Medicine in British Columbia. Although by 1968, MacDermot had made progress in compiling notes and sources and drafting some chapters, the project was abandoned, and the work was not published. He died in 1969.
published
Title based on the contents of the collection.
The collection consists of records documenting John MacDermot’s proposed *History of Medicine in British Columbia*, and includes correspondence, written notes, minutes, clippings, completed survey forms, and written and typed manuscripts.
The materials were held in UBC Rare Books and Special Collections for many years until transferred to the University Archives in 2021.
Related records can be found in the William C. Gibson fonds, also available at UBC Archives. Other records can be found with the J.H. MacDermot fonds held at the Doctors of B.C. Archives.