Doctor
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Le Médecin | The Doctor
Michel Sarrazin ("Portrait du médecin et chercheur naturaliste canadien-français Michel Sarrazin (1659-1734)", painting by Pierre Mignard, Wikimedia Commons).
A médecin, or doctor, was at the top of the medical professional hierarchy — which also included apothecaries, barber-surgeons, nuns, midwives and healers. Dictionaries of the time defined a doctor as “one who had studied the nature and illnesses of the human body, and who had made it his profession to heal human beings”. Considered to be a man of science, the doctor focused on three aspects in particular: the diagnosis (identifying the ailment), the prognosis (predicting the evolution of the illness and how to cure it) and the prescription (choice of a treatment).
The doctor was required to have university degrees, which was not the case for surgeons and apothecaries. His position in the professional hierarchy was determined by his titles and diplomas. The highest-ranking doctors were the docteurs du roy, or royal doctors, who were tasked with watching over the health of the colony. In Canada, the most important doctors were Michel Sarrazin (1699–1734) and Jean-François Gaultier (1742–1756).
On a daily basis, the doctor went to the Hôtel-Dieu in Québec City to see the patients cared for by the nuns and to discuss with the apothecary the medicine that needed to be prepared and administered. The doctor was also responsible for the medical care of the military troops. In the case of epidemics, he had the right to intervene and to determine what measures needed to be taken to limit the spread of the disease. In addition to all of these obligations, he also cared for a private clientele of religious and lay people.
Known persons who had this occupation in New France: François Allaire, Claude Benoît, father Boispineau (“médecin de la Compagnie de Jésus”/doctor of the Society of Jesus), Claude Boiteux de Saint-Olive, [le sieur] Berthier, René Chartier (“médecin ordinaire”/ordinary doctor), Jacques Franchère, Jean-François Gauthier, Robert Giffard (“médecin ordinaire”/ordinary doctor), Michel Sarrazin, Timothée Sullivan dit Sylvain (“médecin du roi” / king’s doctor).
Source: Government of Canada,"Daily Life: Health and Medicine”, Canadian Museum of History (https://www.historymuseum.ca/virtual-museum-of-new-france/daily-life/health-and-medicine/), citing original research by Stéphanie Tésio, Ph.D.