“A Vile Custom”: The Strange Career of William Osler’s “Professional Notes”

• Published in: Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences
• Main Author: Healey, Jenna
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press (OUP) 2023
• Subjects: Geriatrics and Gerontology; History; Great Slave Lake
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jhmas/jrad072; https://academic.oup.com/jhmas/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/jhmas/jrad072/53811616/jrad072.pdf

Abstract: In 1882, William Osler wrote “Professional Notes among the Indian Tribes about Great Slave Lake, NWT,” a fantastical essay that purportedly described the sexual and obstetric customs of Indigenous peoples residing in the Canadian Northwest. Originally prepared as a prank, “Professional Notes,” along with Osler’s alter ego Egerton Yorrick Davis, became an elaborate inside joke that circulated widely among the medical elite for decades after Osler’s death. In this essay, I trace the history and afterlife of “Professional Notes,” considering both the colonial context of its creation as well as the reasons for its enduring popularity. I argue that “Professional Notes” both reflected and reinforced the anti-Indigenous racism that permeated the medical profession, particularly during its consolidation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. I also make a methodological argument for the study of joking within the history of medicine, presenting “Professional Notes” as a powerful example of the role humour has played in shaping medical culture.