Dr. Jacalyn Duffin is skeptical of distinctions—even one calling her a medical hero.  

When she was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in September as one of six medical heroes to be distinguished next May, she was completely surprised. 

“It’s not something you apply for and it’s certainly not something I ever personally aspired to,” Duffin told The Journal over a phone interview.

“It’s a huge honour to be recognized in this way.”

From 1988 to 2017, Duffin was the Hannah Professor of the History of Medicine at Queen’s. During this time, she taught a course on the history of the Nobel Prize, asking who won it, who didn’t, and why. 

At the end of the course, students analyzed other distinctions, including inductions into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. 

“They learn that these things are pretty subjective and there’s lots of unsung heroes out there who don’t get recognized,” Duffin said. “The reason I laughed was I feltlike I was somehow being punished for being a little bit irreverent about prizes in general.”

“I know that my former students—because I’ve been teaching that course for almost twenty years—were probably collapsing laughing when they heard about it.”

Duffin is known for bringing history and medicine together as an approach to modern medical practice, and was pleased to be recognized by medical leaders for a historic methodology. Her research delves into how the historical research method parallels doctors and nurses’ treatment of patients.

On its website, the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame stated Duffin “has made enduring contributions to medical research and education that deepen our historical understanding and cause us to reflect on the origins of present-day health care. [Duffin’s] assured that thousands of physicians and nurses appreciate the broader cultural and social contexts of their professions.”

In her role as an educator, Duffin has two goals for medical students: To stress the utility of history’s potential contributions to medical practice; and to make students skeptical about everything they learn in medical school.

“This sits with the goals in medical education right now to make future doctors life-long learners, to make them willing to rethink what they believe to be right,” Duffin said. “As my late father-in-law used to say, half of what we are teaching you is going to be wrong, we just don’t know which half.”

Duffin’s also a trained haematologist, a specialist in the treatment and diagnoses of blood-related diseases. She’s been involved in research about diagnostic technology, rural practice, drug development, disease concepts, health policy, and religious healing. 

While her most famous research project included four trips to study medical miracles within the Vatican Archives from 2000 to 2009, Duffin told The Journal her favourite research project is always what she’s currently working on.

“Every time I work on a research project, I absolutely love what I’m doing,” she said. “I have great freedom to research whatever I want.”

Despite this freedom, Duffin remains committed to linking history to modern medical practice. 

“I think the humanities in medicine have a terrible time being recognized and being included in medicine,” she said. “If anything, I hope this award will help encourage other medical schools to think about the importance of history and the other humanities.”