Home

A Piece of Our History

A piece of our history: a Chinese translation of the Hippocratic Oath from the late 1980s

We recently discovered a piece of art created by one of our society’s founding members – a beautiful artwork of Chinese calligraphy which signifies the representation of Chinese Canadian medical doctors in Canadian medical society of the late 1980s. We give our thanks to Gladys Tong, who has researched the events around the creation of this artwork and written an introduction as follows.

In the early 1980s, several local Vancouver physicians including Dr.  Cheung C. Wong (late), Dr. Daniel Y. Tong, Dr. Howan Koo, Dr. Jay Cheng (late), Dr. Kai S. Chan, & Dr. Gilbert Ma met to discuss the formation of the Chinese Medical Society here in Vancouver. They were instrumental in starting the society and nominated Dr. Jay Cheng (late) to serve as the first president. By May 1985, the CCMS (BC) was legally constituted under the leadership of the late Dr. Jay Cheng (psychiatrist).

In 1988 Dr. Daniel Y. Tong had the idea to translate the Hippocratic oath into Chinese so that there would be Chinese representation in the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) in Ottawa. He did the translation and his father Wing Po Tong wrote the Chinese calligraphy. The finished work was presented to the CMA on Aug 24, 1988 by the CCMS (BC) at the Annual Meeting of the CMA at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Vancouver. It now resides in the CMA building in Ottawa.

In Memory of Dr. Madeline Chung

Dr. Madeline Huang Chung, the first female Chinese Obstetrician in Canada, passed away peacefully at her home in Vancouver at the age of 96 on August 22nd, 2021. Dr. Chung was born in Shanghai China in 1925 and graduated from Yale in China in 1948. She received a 4 year residency at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester and moved to Vancouver to practice in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Vancouver General Hospital and the old Grace Hospital. She was popular among medical students and residents because of her dedication to teaching, in spite of initially being denied an academic appointment. Over a long career from 1956-1992 she delivered 7,226 babies.

Dr. Chung was equally involved in the community as a volunteer. She also helped to found the Chinese language True Light School which is still exists today. For her dedication, she was made an Honorary Life Member of the Canadian Medical Association in 1993 and a received a Civic Merit Award from the City of Vancouver in 2013. Dr. Madeline Chung had attended quite a few of our CCMSBC galas. She and her husband Dr. Wallace Chun are pioneers in medicine. Their son Dr. Stephen Chung is the leading liver surgeon in BC. Her professionalism, dedication and love will be remembered.

Dr. Charles Jiang CCMSBC President

Dr. Madeline Chung with one of her ‘Chung babies,’ one of thousands she delivered in Vancouver through the decades. Photo by PNG files

Anti-Asian Racism: A Call to Action

The linked file below is an anti-Asian racism statement that was recently sent out by Fiona Dalton (CEO of PHC) and Victor Leung (President of Medical Staff Association). In the statement, there are some useful links about educating others about racism, as well as links to donate to organizations to fight anti-Asian racism. It may be a useful statement to post on the website as well.

file: 
PDF icon 2021-04-19 Anti-Asian Racism Statement.pdf

Pages