Arthur Rousseau and his remarkable social and institutional contributions in the realm of respiratory disease

Abstract

This article presents Dr. Arthur Rousseau’s remarkable career at the Université Laval Faculty of Medicine, from his early days in 1897 to his death in 1934. Trained in bacteriology at the Pasteur Institute, Rousseau was a pioneer in introducing this new medical discipline to Quebec City. In charge of the bacteriology laboratory at Université Laval, he quickly turned his attention to targeted actions to combat tuberculosis, the incidence of which was very high in the Quebec City region. Gifted with a remarkable sense of organization and charisma, he endowed Quebec City with new hospital institutions, including a major public sanatorium for people with tuberculosis. During his tenure, the Faculty underwent remarkable development. From 1921 to 1934, he worked energetically to modernize student training by consolidating the teaching of medical sciences and extending clinical training to new specialties.

RÉSUMÉ

Cet article présente la remarquable carrière du Dr Arthur Rousseau à la Faculté de médecine de l’Université Laval depuis ses débuts en 1897 à son décès en 1934. Formé en bactériologie à l’Institut Pasteur, Rousseau est un pionnier de l’introduction de cette nouvelle discipline médicale à Québec. Responsable du laboratoire de bactériologie de l’Université Laval, il s’oriente rapidement vers des actions ciblées pour lutter contre la tuberculose dont l’incidence est très élevée dans la région de Québec. Doté d’un sens de l’organisation et d’un charisme remarquable, il dote la ville de Québec de nouvelles institutions hospitalières parmi lesquelles on compte un important sanatorium public destiné aux personnes souffrant de tuberculose. Pendant ses décanats, la Faculté connaît un développement remarquable. Il s’emploie avec énergie, de 1921 à 1934, à moderniser la formation des étudiants par la consolidation de l’enseignement des sciences médicales et l’élargissement de la formation clinique à de nouvelles spécialités.

Keywords:

• Arthur Rousseau
• tuberculosis
• bacteriology
• sanatorium
• Faculté de médecine
• Université Laval

This article is a translation of:

Arthur Rousseau et les maladies respiratoires: Une contribution sociale et institutionnelle remarquable

Author contributions

Design, research, analysis and writing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Funding

The author reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes

1 In 1888, Quebec adopted the Public Health Act, which established the Provincial Board of Health. The Board was responsible for public health surveillance in the province and for monitoring public health measures entrusted to municipalities. Specifically, the Act empowered the Board to order the creation of public health bureaus in municipalities and to subject those bureaus to its regulations. Statistics on tuberculosis were published in the Board’s annual reports.