The J.O Metcalfe Years - 1958 to 1975

Dr. J.O Metcalfe succeeded Dr. Gordon Ellis as the Chief of Urology in 1958. Dr. Metcalfe had been raised in Lethbridge and graduated in Medicine from the University of Alberta in 1946. He became the first resident in Urology to complete his training at the University of Alberta under the Mark Marshall Plan, which had been initiated at the University of Alberta after WW II. He trained under Dr. Gordon Ellis and spent a year in Kingston, Ontario, training under Dr. Nate Barry of Queen’s University, before his return to practice at the University Hospital in 1952. He will be remembered as a wonderful teacher and organizer who managed to bring the Edmonton urological community together academically and socially as a well-coordinated unit.

Dr. J.O. Metcalfe

He initiated City Urology Rounds for the residents and staff, and monthly Journal Club meetings were held at the staff Urologist’s homes. He organized the Prairie Urologic Association meetings in Banff and Lake Louise every spring for skiing and to provide the opportunity for residents to present papers at a scientific meeting. He encouraged research training during the Urology Training Program. With the assistance of Dr. Peter Allen, he established experimental dialysis in the research lab using the Skeggs-Leonard machine that had been obtained from the Mayo Clinic. Dr. Metcalfe had a charismatic personality that contributed greatly to his success as an organizer and in the recruitment of a high-caliber academic staff and residents. He would give you the shirt off his back, and he would also tell you exactly what he thought of your suggestions, whether good or bad. He was very active in the Canadian Urological Association and served as President at the meeting in Jasper in 1975. He attended many meetings of the American Urologic Association and the Canadian Urological Association and received a Distinguished Service Award from both organizations in 1991.

Dr. Metcalfe was also a member of the Council of the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons for eight years and was elected to the American Association of Genito-Urinary Surgeons in 1971. His past-time activities included golf, skiing and touring the Canadian Rockies in search of good fly-fishing locations. He retired from his Urology practice in 1987.

Dr. Robert R. Francis of Edmonton came back to the Royal Alexandra Hospital and the University Hospital in 1951, having been trained by Dr. Aberhart at the University of Toronto. His friend and colleague, Dr. J.O Metcalfe, at the University Hospital joined him in 1952. They decided that Dr. Francis would spend most of his time at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and Dr. Metcalfe would practice at the University Hospital so they were able to facilitate teaching and urologic coverage. Each became the Chief of Urology at their respective hospitals. Bob Francis was a fine teacher and introduced new surgical techniques. He was an excellent resectionist who accomplished his transurethral resections with minimal blood-loss. In 1967, he pioneered the use of renal cooling for staghorn calculus surgery, working with a third year resident, Dr. Shaun Robinson. They used a gastric cooling machine to achieve renal cooling while removing large calculi from the kidney collecting system. His many activities as President of the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Alberta were rewarded with an appointment to the Alberta Heritage Trust Fund Board. He will be remembered as a warm and humble surgeon who could keep his cool in the operating room or council chamber with a simple solution for a perplexing surgical, medical or political problem. He was a wonderful trombone player in a notorious jazz group called the “Five Four Skins,” whose membership also included Dr. Gary Lieskovsky, Dr. Les Dushinski, Dr. Fred Marshall, and Dr. Malcolm McPhee. He retired from his Urology practice in 1990.

Dr. Rex Boake graduated from the University of Alberta in 1961. He completed his internship and General Surgery training at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and University Hospital and entered the Urology Residency Program in 1965. He obtained his Fellowship in 1968. He was awarded the R.S. McLaughlin Travelling Fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he trained in renal transplantation with Dr. Willard Goodwin and Dr. Don Martin. He established his practice at the University Hospital in 1969, specializing in renal transplantation and lithotripsy for calculus disease. His surgical innovations in the Renal Transplant Program were helpful in improving the success rates. He retired from practice in 1996.

Dr. Bruno Bochinski graduated from the University of Alberta in 1966. His internship and General Surgery training were taken at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. His Urology residency training was accomplished at the University of Manitoba under Dr. Jack McBeath. He obtained his Fellowship in 1971 and entered the Urology practice with Dr. Fred Conroy and Dr. Leo Geroux in 1971. After 1973, his general Urology practice was confined to the Edmonton General Hospital until the changes in hospital coverage occurred under the Capital Health Authority.

Dr. Les Dushinski graduated from the University of Alberta in 1960. Following a year of internship at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, he spent one year at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Connecticut in a General Surgery rotation. He obtained his Urology training under Dr. John Lattimer of Columbia University, New York from 1962-1965. He returned to Edmonton and practiced in the Baker Clinic from 1965 to 1973. He was in private practice from 1973 to 1994. At the Royal Alexandra Hospital, he was Chief of Surgery from 1980 to 1990. He was on the Board of the Alberta College of Physicians and Surgeons from 1989 to 1992 and served as Chairmen of the Complaints Committee.

Dr. Dushinski received the Governor General’s Medal for Service to the Community in 1992. He was on the Cancer Board from 1990 to 1997. He was a Founder and President of the Northern Alberta Foundation for Urologic Research for several years. He retired from practice in 1994.

Dr. T.C. Eid was raised in Saskatchewan and graduated from the University of Toronto in 1956. After a rotating internship at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, he did general practice with his father in Macklin, Saskatchewan for two years. After a two-year period in general surgery at the University of Alberta Hospital, he spent three years in a graduate-training program under Dr. C. Creevy at the University of Minnesota Hospital in Minneapolis until 1963. He established his Urology practice at the University Hospital in 1964. His practice included an interest in infertility problems and uro-oncology. His quick wit and command of the language enhanced his popularity. He retired from his Urology practice in August 1995.

Dr. Fred Marshall graduated from the University of Alberta in 1954. He interned at the Calgary General Hospital and then he spent several years as a General Surgery Resident in Montreal and New York. In 1958, he became a Resident in the Urology Training Program under Dr. John Lattimer of Columbia University until 1961, when he obtained his Fellowship. He returned to Edmonton to practice Urology in the Baker Clinic in 1962. In 1967, he entered private practice and later became associated in practice with Dr. David Mador in 1985. This Urology group joined with Dr. Les Dushinski and Dr. Malcolm McPhee in 1992. Dr. Marshall has been involved in medical politics and became a candidate in several elections for a Federal Seat as a member of the Western Independence Party. He has many interests and is accomplished in many hobbies, sporting activities and music. He retired from his practice in 1996.

Dr. Larry Mix graduated from the University of Alberta in 1968. He entered the Urology residency in 1969 with completion of his Fellowship in 1973. He spent two years in Urology practice in Kelowna, BC, and then obtained a one-year Fellowship in Pediatric Urology under Mr. Herbert J. Johnston in Liverpool, England. He returned to Edmonton and began practice in pediatric Urology in 1979 at the Charles Camsell Hospital. He became a member of the staff at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in 1980 and then the Glenrose Hospital in 1985. He obtained his Fellowship in the American Academy of Pediatric Urology in 1990 and transferred his large pediatric practice to the University Hospital in 1995. He retired from his practice in 2005.

Dr. Howard Ramage graduated from the University of Alberta in 1954. He entered the Urology Training Program under the Mark Marshall Plan in 1960. He obtained his Certification in 1963 and a Fellowship in 1965. Dr. Ramage practiced Urology from 1963 to 1970 with Dr. Fred Conroy and Dr. Leo Geroux. He left this practice to enter a solo practice at the Misericordia Hospital until 1991, when he retired.

Dr. Shaun Robinson graduated from the University of Alberta in 1964. His internship and Urology residency at the University of Alberta Hospital were completed in 1970. He obtained his Certification in 1969 and Fellowship in 1970. He has provided good urologic care at the Misericordia Hospital since 1971, and he has specialized in the Extra Corporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy treatment of renal calculus disease. He retired from his practice in 2005.

Dr. Marvin Weisler was raised in Edmonton, but graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a M.D. in 1966. He obtained his specialty training at the University of Alberta and obtained his Certification in 1971 and his Fellowship in 1972. He entered private practice in Urology at the Misericordia Hospital in 1971.

Dr. Weisler also became involved in administrative committees and developed an interest in pediatric Urology. He and his wife, Donna, were awarded the 1981 Jewish National Fund Negev Award for dedicated service to Canada and the State of Israel.

Residents who graduated during the Dr. J.O. Metcalfe years included: