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Dr. Gustave Gingras likes to joke that he has been "a travelling salesman for rehabilitation." This is, in fact, quite an accurate statement. Throughout his life he has worked tirelessly to promote rehabilitation for the handicapped, not only in Canada but in many countries around the world. Gustave Gingras was well-prepared for this role. He was ate at Querbes School, Brebeuf College, Joliette Seminary our et College where he received a BA. He enjoyed his years at School but was occasionally guilty of reading, debating, acting in plays or playing the organ when he should have been working on mathematics. Math was his stumbling block; however, with the help of a kind teacher, he finally conquered it. Young Gustave was good at sports, especially lacrosse.

Following graduation from college he entered the Faculty of Medicine of the Université de Montréal. Even before he graduated with his MD, he was wearing the khaki. In 1942 Dr. Gingras joined the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps. As a young lieutenant he suffered through basic training where everything was done "on the double." He was impatient to get overseas where he perceived the action to be. However, it was several postings later before he finally sailed for England. Having interned in neurosurgery, Dr. Gingras was posted to The Canadian Neurosurgical & Plastic Surgery Hospital in Basingstoke, England. Of his service in Basingstoke, he said, "Working closely with such dedicated professionals was the best medical training of my career." In 1945 Dr. Gingras volunteered for service in the Far East but the war ended before he could serve.

Following World War II, he fully intended to carry on in neurosurgery when he returned to Canada. A conversation with Dr. Wilder Penfield changed his plans. Dr. Penfield asked him to coordinate the rehabilitation of 50 veterans at Ste. -Anne -de-Bellevue Hospital in Montreal. How could he refuse his brothers-in-arms who were paraplegics and quadriplegics? Thus began Dr. Gustave Gingras' career in physical medicine and rehabilitation.

Physical medicine - later called physiatrics - was a new branch of medicine at that time. His more conservative colleagues would ask, “What is it? Is it some kind of witch doctoring?” But Dr. Gingras was convinced that rehabilitation could play a major role during convalescence from certain diseases and injuries.

At Ste.-Anne’s, working with physical and occupational therapists, social workers, psychologists and dedicated nurses, Dr. Gingras was able to pioneer rehabilitation techniques. Many of the 50 handicapped veterans, rehabilitated to wheelchairs, attended sporting events and concerts; many returned to their homes and jobs — even to careers in medicine and law.

By this time Dr. Gingras was working with patients from the private sector. He opened his first clinic with assistance from the Montreal Rotary Club. It was held in what had been the billiard room of the old Viger Hotel. Here he attended patients two afternoons per week. To fill the growing need, the clinic was soon moved to larger quarters in the basement of The Montreal Convalescent Hospital. It then became The Rehabilitation Institute of Montreal and a bona fide clinic where physiatrics were trained. It was a proud moment for Dr. Gingras when the Institute was recognized by the College of Physicians & Surgeons.

It was during this period, at the invitation of the Faculty of Medicine at the Université de Montréal, that Dr. Gingras became the first professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation.

It was fortunate that the Institute had the knowledge and expertise to help when the polio crisis struck in the 1950s and when the tragic thalidomide babies were born in the 1960s. Dr. Gingras was asked to coordinate the treatment and rehabilitation of the thalidomide victims in Quebec and the Atlantic Provinces.

1. A Salesman for spinal cord rehabilitation since 1945, Dr. Gustave Gingras founded in 1949 the Rehabilitation Institute in Montreal. In the 1960's, he was instrumental in establishing at the institute a prosthetic and orthiotic workshop and laboratory for children with physical handicaps. This view captures the amicable relationships Dr. Gingras has had with his patients, many of whom were young people needing prosthetic and orthotic treatment [Shirly Horne] 2. Mr. Lorenzo Robichaud (left) presents Dr. Gustave Gingras with the Canadian Paraplegic Association’s Distinguished Service Citation in 1985. A Companion of the Order of Canada, Dr. Gingras was the president of the Canadian Medical Association in 1973 [Canadian Parapalegic Association].

In 1953 the United Nations called for his help in the rehabilitation of victims of work-related accidents in Venezuela. (Venezuela had had an oil boom and there were many accidents on the job: in 1953 there were 10,000.) This was the first of his 15 international missions.

In carrying out his missions for rehabilitation, Dr. Gingras would first assess the situation in the particular country. Then, in consultation with local physicians who were usually appointees of the government, he would bring in trained personnel — usually from Canada — so that rehabilitation could begin immediately. Realizing that local and regional personnel would eventually have to take over upon his return to Canada, he would, in consultation with local health officials, initiate training programs for local personnel to assure the establishment of necessary rehabilitation centres.

He was also asked to visit such additional South American countries as Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Columbia to assess the need for rehabilitation.

In 1959 The League of Red Cross Societies and the World Health Organization requested his assistance when a mysterious paralysis struck in Morocco. Here the mission was unique in that he coordinated, from 21 countries, health personnel who spoke diverse languages. Eventually it was discovered that the paralysis that afflicted as many as 10,000 had been caused by machine oil that had been unscrupulously sold as cooking oil.

In 1965, at the request of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Dr. Gingras travelled to South Vietnam to coordinate the rehabilitation of wounded victims of the war, many of whom were children. In 1968, again at the request of CIDA — via Cardinal Leger — he went on a mission to the African country of Cameroon as a consultant for the building of rehabilitation centres and the establishment of training programs.

As president of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), in 1973 he led a 13-member delegation on a tour of China to observe the practice of medicine. Following Canada’s recognition of the People’s Republic of China in 1971, his was the first Canadian group to visit mainland China.

Dr. Gingras is now a senior citizen but he continues to work diligently on what he says “may be my last mission.” For several years he has been lobbying along with the War Amputations of Canada, of which he is chief consultant, to gain compensation for Canadian veterans who were prisoners of war in Hong Kong in 1941-45. Dr. Gingras has collected information about the medical situation and has reviewed and compiled many interviews that document the cruelty suffered by these veterans as war prisoners.

Dr. Gustave Gingras, in failing health, now sits in a wheelchair himself at his oceanside home in Glen Green in Prince Edward Island. Reflecting on his life, he is modest about the many honours bestowed upon him, honours too numerous to recount but that include several honorary degrees, Companion of the Order of Canada, Knight of Malta. These acknowledge Dr. Gingras’ vital rôle in studying the causes and effects of various handicaps and his impressive pioneering work in the areas of physical medicine and rehabilitation.