{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,30]],"date-time":"2026-01-30T09:59:21Z","timestamp":1769767161449,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,25]],"date-time":"2023-11-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1700870400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/pages\/standard-publication-reuse-rights"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,9]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n               <jats:p>In 1882, William Osler wrote \u201cProfessional Notes among the Indian Tribes about Great Slave Lake, NWT,\u201d a fantastical essay that purportedly described the sexual and obstetric customs of Indigenous peoples residing in the Canadian Northwest. Originally prepared as a prank, \u201cProfessional Notes,\u201d along with Osler\u2019s alter ego Egerton Yorrick Davis, became an elaborate inside joke that circulated widely among the medical elite for decades after Osler\u2019s death. In this essay, I trace the history and afterlife of \u201cProfessional Notes,\u201d considering both the colonial context of its creation as well as the reasons for its enduring popularity. I argue that \u201cProfessional Notes\u201d both reflected and reinforced the anti-Indigenous racism that permeated the medical profession, particularly during its consolidation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. I also make a methodological argument for the study of joking within the history of medicine, presenting \u201cProfessional Notes\u201d as a powerful example of the role humour has played in shaping medical culture.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/jhmas\/jrad072","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,25]],"date-time":"2023-11-25T14:05:56Z","timestamp":1700921156000},"page":"105-125","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["\u201cA Vile Custom\u201d: The Strange Career of William Osler\u2019s \u201cProfessional Notes\u201d"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"80","author":[{"given":"Jenna","family":"Healey","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Queen\u2019s University , Ontario ,","place":["Canada"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,25]]},"container-title":["Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/jhmas\/article-pdf\/80\/2\/105\/53811616\/jrad072.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/jhmas\/article-pdf\/80\/2\/105\/53811616\/jrad072.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,9]],"date-time":"2025-04-09T15:56:47Z","timestamp":1744214207000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/jhmas\/article\/80\/2\/105\/7451050"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,25]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,25]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,9]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/jhmas\/jrad072","relation":{},"ISSN":["0022-5045","1468-4373"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0022-5045","type":"print"},{"value":"1468-4373","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published-other":{"date-parts":[[2025,4]]},"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,25]]}}}