Open AccessThe legacy of Dr Earl Russell
Author(s) -
Sandra Botros
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
uwomj/medical journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2560-8274
pISSN - 0042-0336
DOI - 10.5206/uwomj.v87i1.1787
Subject(s) - officer , house officer , medicine , pain management , family medicine , management , medical education , political science , law , physical therapy , economics
Dr Earl Russell (1920-2008) was a Canadian anesthetist and pain specialist who spent the majority of his career as a Western University faculty member and a pain physician in Southwestern Ontario. Dr Russell obtained his medical degree at Western, graduating in the class of 1950, and went on to serve in the Korean War as a medical officer. It was in Korea that he began developing a keen interest in pain medicine, using self-taught anesthesia skills to help soldiers suffering from frostbite. He returned to Canada and focused the rest of his career on the practice and advancement of pain medicine, and endowed the Earl Russell Chair in Pain Management in order to fund future research and education in the field. This article highlights the importance of his contributions to the field, in particular through his creation of the Earl Russell Chair, and how this led to the first Pain Medicine residency program in Canada at Western University.