Winter 2015 Director's Message
The School's inaugural physiotherapy class participate in electrotherapy class in 1964, in the
gymnasium of the Camp Hill Hospital (now the site of the Halifax, Infirmary). (Photo provided
by alumnus, Janet Knight).
By: Dr. Anne Fenety, Director of the School of Physiotherapy
Finally 2015 has arrived! We can celebrate the Class of 1965 and we can celebrate the 50th anniversary of their graduation from the Dalhousie School of Physiotherapy. Looking back, we know that 1965 physiotherapy practice standards differed significantly from current ones. Similarly, their world looked different: Prime Minister Lester Pearson unfurled the ‘new’ Canadian flag on February 15th. The Beatles released ”Eight Days a Week” ; the Rolling Stones recorded “Satisfaction”. On television, “Get Smart” premiered and “Wagon Train” was cancelled. Moviegoers laughed ‘til they cried at “The Pink Panther” and just plain cried at Dr. Zhivago”. Montreal won the 1965 Stanley Cup; Hamilton won the Grey Cup. Away from the world stage, what else was happening in 1965?
In Fredericton, New Brunswick, I was in junior high school in 1965. My scrap book shows that I played several sports, had a handsome pen pal from Malta named ‘Joe’, taught Sunday School and loved school dances. Visions of being a physiotherapist had not yet reached me. I wanted to be an architect.
In Halifax, the future physiotherapy graduates were in their final semester in early 1965. The School of Physiotherapy had no 'home' and classes took place in the gymnasium of Camp Hill Hospital or in the Forrest Building where the Faculty of Medicine was located. No doubt they doing what all future Dal PT grads would be doing: studying, playing, completing clinical placements, worrying about practical exams, attending classes, partying, and trying to figure out what would be on their final examinations. They would have headaches and heartaches; challenges and victories. There were no former graduates to lean on for advice in planning their careers and their lives. There were few opportunities for socialization into the profession--now considered vital for physiotherapy graduates. As such, many may have been apprehensive about the future. Apprehension aside, I expect many of those original 16 graduates cannot believe that 50 years has now passed.
The beginnings of the School of Physiotherapy started earlier during what historian Peter Waite termed Dalhousie’s ‘transformative’ years.1 The creation of the Faculty of Health Professions, first proposed by the Medical Faculty Council, came to fruition in 1962 under Dean R.M. MacDonald, who, according to Waite (1998) was “quiet, determined, and unflappable”. By 1963, “through the energy of Dr. Arthur Shears of Physical Medicine, the School of Physiotherapy was put together and added” [to the Faculty of Health Professions]. From 1962 to 1965, Dalhousie experienced phenomenal 13% annual growth in enrolment. In early September, 1963, the Class of 1965 students arrived along with the new President, Henry Hicks. By then, Dalhousie’s enrolment had grown to 2,613 students and the history of the School of Physiotherapy was about to be written. We salute the visionaries who built the School. We congratulate the Class of 1965 who wrote Chapter one.
Postscript: During my research I also found one of my 1965 report cards where my teacher wrote “Anne is a lively student with a good sense of humor”. I wonder: Was that code for ‘Anne doesn’t pay attention, but she sure has fun’? Or, were those attributes of a future physiotherapist? I leave that up to you.