Thomas George Roddick

Sir Thomas George Roddick (31 July 1846 – 20 February 1923) was a Canadian surgeon, medical administrator, and politicianm born in Harbor Grace, Newfoundland

Medical service
Thomas George Roddick attended the Model and Normal Schools in Truro, Nova Scotia and graduated from the Medical Faculty of McGill University in 1868 with the highest honours, winning the Holmes Gold Medal and Final Prize. From 1868 to 1874, he was Assistant House Surgeon at the Montreal General Hospital and the first chief surgeon of the Royal Victoria Hospital. In 1872, he was appointed Lecturer on Hygiene at McGill University. He was appointed a Demonstrator of Anatomy in 1874 and in 1875 was named Professor of Clinical Surgery. He would later become Chair of Surgery. He was dean of the Faculty of Medicine from 1901 to 1908.

Military service
He has served on the Militia Force as Assistant Surgeon Grand Trunk Rifle Brigade, and Surgeon Major Prince of Wales Rifles. On the outbreak of the North-West Rebellion in 1885, he was selected to take charge of medical affairs in the field, with the rank of Deputy-Surgeon General of Militia. He organized the hospitals and medical service for the Expeditionary Force, and was recommended for C.M.G. by the General in command.

Political service
He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons for the riding of St. Antoine in the 1896 federal election. A Conservative he was re-elected in 1900. He helped pass the "Roddick Bill" or Canada Medical Act which created a national medical licensing standard that allowed physicians to practice in every province in Canada. With the creation of the Medical Council of Canada in 1912 Roddick was named first on the Canadian Medical Register.

He was President of the Canadian Medical Association and President of the British Medical Association. He was knighted in 1914.

Honours

 * Sir Thomas Roddick Hospital built in early 1950s by the American Government in Newfoundland and Labrador is named in his honour.
 * McGill University's Roddick Gates is named in his honour.
 * He was knighted in 1912