Do you smell burnt toast? Do you get annoyed when people cut holes in your peach baskets?
Anyone growing up in Canada will remember the Heritage Minutes.
From the Canadian Encyclopedia:
“The Heritage Minutes collection is a bilingual series of history-focused public service announcements. Each 60-second short film depicts a significant person, event or story in Canadian history. They are produced by Historica Canada, the not-for-profit organization that also publishes this encyclopedia. First released in 1991, the Heritage Minutes have been shown on television, in cinemas and online. They have become a recognizable part of Canadian culture. The collection currently includes 99 episodes.”
A recent Toronto Star article has put out a call for a new Heritage Minute. This time, the program by Historica Canada wants to tell the story of Norman Kwong, the first Chinese Canadian in the Canadian Football League.
While I am sure that Mr. Kwong would make a fine subject, I would like to propose another possible Heritage Minute: Dr. Balfour Mount.
Born in Ottawa, Ontario, Dr. Balfour Mount received his medical degree from Queen's University in 1963 and studied surgery and urology at McGill University. Following graduation, Dr. Mount worked as a urologist at McGill, and as a surgical oncologist at New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine.
In 1973, inspired by a discussion group of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross' book “On Death and Dying,” Dr. Mount looked at the conditions at Montreal's Royal Victoria Hospital. His research study of patients with life-limiting illnesses, and his own personal experiences as a cancer patient, intensified Dr. Mount’s interest in the needs of the terminally ill and their families. In September of that year, after visiting Cicely Saunders' St. Christopher's Hospice in London, he helped to create a similar ward within the Royal Victoria Hospital and coined the term "palliative care.” He became the founding Director of the Royal Victoria Hospital Palliative Care Service, the Palliative Care McGill and the McGill Programs in Integrated Whole Person Care. Dr. Mount is currently the Eric M. Flanders Emeritus Professor of Palliative Care at McGill University.
Dr. Mount has travelled worldwide promoting and explaining palliative care, the pathophysiology of symptoms and their management, and the human experience of suffering endured by patients and families. Dr. Mount combined the rigours of scientific analysis with deep appreciation for individual human beings, a combination that helps to humanize the intellectual and procedural triumphs of modern medicine. Recognizing that the distress experienced by patients with terminal illnesses exceeded their physical pain, Dr. Balfour Mount advocated for holistic or “total pain” approach to care that not only addressed physical symptoms but also addressed their psychological, social and spiritual needs.
His research interests include issues relating to quality of life and whole person care. He is the author of over 150 publications and he has participated in the production of 25 teaching films and audiotapes on oncology and palliative care. He has been a lecturer and Visiting Professor in North America, Great Britain, Norway, Netherlands, France, Austria, Italy, USSR, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, China and Taiwan.
In September 2020, Canada Post issued five stamps honouring six Canadian physicians and researchers whose discoveries have saved lives and revolutionized patient care around the world. One of these physicians was Dr. Mount.
Notable quotes include:
“When pain and other symptoms are controlled, there really is limitless potential for quality of life at the end of life.”
“A key component is that it’s not about ending things; it’s about the present moment. That’s all that any of us have – is just now. And, it turns out, that there’s endless potential in the present moment.”
“Palliative care has taught us that the most significant journey that each of us is on is directed inwards,”
Dr. Mount was the first ever recipient of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) “Lifetime Achievement Award.” In addition, he has been further honoured through the creation of three named awards: “The Balfour M. Mount Award” (The American Journal of Hospice Care), “The Balfour M. Mount Visiting Professorship in Palliative Medicine” (Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada) and “The Balfour M. Mount Leadership Award in Hospice Palliative Care” (Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association).
Dr. Mount was awarded McGill’s Osler Teaching Award in 1997. He was also invited to deliver the first annual Cicely Saunders Memorial Lecture in London in 2006. In 2008, he was honored by receiving the Herman Feifel Award for Exceptional Achievement in Thanatology, from the International Work Group on Dying, Death and Bereavement. In August 2011, Dr. Balfour Mount received the Canadian Medical Association’s (CMA) Medal of Service. He was the 41st recipient.
Dr. Mount is a Member of the Order of Canada in recognition for having "founded the first Palliative Care Service at Montreal's Royal Victoria Hospital." In 2003, he was promoted to Officer in recognition of being "the father of palliative care in North America" In 1988, he was made an Officer of the National Order of Quebec. He has been awarded honorary degree from the University of Calgary, Queen's University, and Dalhousie University. In 2010, McGill University Health Centre established the Balfour Mount Palliative Care Unit.
In 2018, Balfour Mount was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.
An internationally recognized pioneer and tireless advocate for quality end-of-life care, Dr. Mount has raised the standards of medical practice in North America and around the world while providing comfort and reassurance to the dying.
It’s time for Canada to give Dr. Mount his minute of appreciation.