Ian McWhinney

Ian Renwick McWhinney, OC, FRCGP, FCFP, FRCP, (born October 11, 1926) is a Canadian physician and academic known as the "Father of Family Medicine" for his work in creating a family medicine program at the University of Western Ontario.



Born in Burnley, England, he studied at Cheltenham College from 1940 to 1944. During World War II, he served with the Royal Army Medical Corps. After the war, he studied at Clare College, Cambridge and at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital at the University of London. He then practiced family medicine in Stratford-upon-Avon for thirteen years. In 1967, he was appointed the first Professor of Family Medicine in Canada at the University of Western Ontario. In 1968, he became the Chair of the Division of Family Medicine.

In 1989, he published A Textbook of Family Medicine (ISBN 0-19-511518-X) and is now in its second edition.

In 1997, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2000, he was awarded honorary degrees from the University of Oslo and the University of Western Ontario. In 2006, he was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.