Saskatchewan Ancestors: Medical Journals on Canadiana

Every now and again I like to randomly search the website Canadiana, just to see what pops up. For those who don't know, Canadiana, and it's sister site Heritage, are free sites. They have an incredible amount of documents digitized. They run the gamut of official government records and correspondence relating to immigration, agriculture, wars, and settlement of the west, to name a few. They also have non government books, magazines, and periodical. You never know what you might find.

One of the drawbacks to both sites is that unless you are very specific with your key words, you can get lost in the results. They have recently revamped both sites, and it's a fantastic look. It appears they have attempted to stream line things a bit as well. But part of the fun of just using broad keywords in your search is that you may in fact stumble across a record set you didn't even know existed. Such was the case when I used the keyword Saskatchewan on Canadiana. As to be expected, I got over 30,000 hits. But one that caught my eye was the Saskatchewan Medical Journal. Canadiana has 16 issues digitized. There are 4 issues from 1909, and 12 for 1910. If your Saskatchewan ancestor was a doctor during these years, you'll want to check the issues out.

http://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_05218_1/2?r=0&s=1

The Journal of course has articles that would probably interest only medical professions. Much the same as the The New England Historical and Genealogical Register wouldn't be of much interest to anyone outside of our community. But hidden among the pages are still some gems. The Personals and News sections give little snippets about the medical community, much the same as an About Town section of a local newspaper.

http://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_05218_8/31?r=0&s=1

There's also an Obituary section

http://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_05218_3/36?r=0&s=1

And here's the Officers and Committee Members of the Saskatchewan Medical Association

http://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_05218_1/3?r=0&s=1

And here's a letter to the editor:

http://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_05218_11/33?r=0&s=1

As you can see from the examples above, these Journals included news and articles from across Canada, and the world. It stands to reason not to leave out medical journals from other areas of Canada as well while you're searching. Canadiana has the following available on their site:

• The Dominion Medical Monthly and Ontario Medical Journal - 24 issues - 1895 to1916
• The Maritime Medical News - 253 issues - 1888 to 1910
• Queen's Medical Quarterly - 23 issues - 1903 to 1909
• The Montreal Medical Journal - 270 issues - 1888 to 1910
• Canada Medical and Surgical Journal - 191 issues - 1872 to 1888
• The Canada Lancet - 619 issues - 1870 to 1922
• Western Canada Medical Journal - 48 issues - 1907 to 1910