Dr. Ian Rusted: The Founding Dean Return to Home Page

Biographical Sketch: Dr. Ian Rusted
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At a Newfoundland refresher course in October 1958 Ronald V. Christie, chairman of the Department of Medicine at McGill, posed the question of a medical school in the province. James M. McGrath, minister of health and Dr. Leonard A. Miller, deputy minister of health, did not expect that there would be one in their lifetimes. Dr. Ian Rusted, medical consultant to the Department of Health, also did not know when there would be a medical school here. However, he thought it was important that small steps were already being made such as the formal approval of intern and resident training at the General Hospital. Six years later in June 1964, Dr. Rusted gave an address, “The Case for a Medical School in Newfoundland,” at the annual meeting of the Newfoundland Medical Association.

Lord Brain’s Royal Commission on Health, 1966, recommended that a medical school was crucial for health care in the province. Several other reports followed, all supporting the necessity of a medical school. The federal Health Resources Fund was essential to the realization of the medical school as well. In 1967, Premier Joseph R. Smallwood committed the government to a formal financial commitment. Dr. Rusted, along with many others, worked tirelessly towards the goal of establishing a Medical School in Newfoundland and Labrador.

On Sept. 1, 1967, the Faculty of Medicine became a reality with the appointment of Dr. Ian Rusted as the first dean of medicine.

The Case for a Medical School in Newfoundland, 1964
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Address to Newfoundland Medical Association Annual Meeting, 7 June 1968
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General Hospital Annual Meeting held 13 March 1968, Address to Medical Staff
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Dr. Ian Rusted – Excerpt from New Medical Schools at Home and Abroad, 1978

Newspaper Articles, 1967-1979

Newfoundland Medical Association Newsletter Articles, 1963-1979

Dr. Ian Rusted’s “Address to the Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies,” 1978(this link will open in a new window)

The Opening of the Health Sciences Centre - a tour of the facilities, Video by E.T.V. MUN, October 1978
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This video is a tour of the Health Sciences Centre. Jim Winter is both host as well as a "fake" patient in the video, guiding us through the various facilities in the HSC, including the emergency room, the recovery room, a patient’s room, laboratories, the cafeteria and the Health Sciences Library. Brief speeches are given by Dr. Ian Rusted, Dr. A. R. Cox, Dr. A. M. House and Dr. William Marshall. Mr. Winter interviews Dr. John Ross about Family Medicine.

Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association: In Memoriam: Remembering Dr. Ian Rusted
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