William D. Stevenson: Atlantic Canada's first neurosurgeon.

The origins of neurosurgical services in Atlantic Canada are tied to the individual efforts of William D. Stevenson. Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Stevenson completed his senior matriculation in Dunnville, Ontario, before studying medicine at the University of Toronto. He completed the Gallie surgical course in Toronto and then spent 1 year training with Edward Archibald at McGill University. After working for 2 years with the Canadian Mobile Neurosurgical Unit in Europe during the Second World War, Stevenson undertook formal neurosurgical training with Kenneth G. McKenzie, Canada's first neurosurgeon. Stevenson was thereafter recruited to Halifax to start the neurosurgical service at the Victoria General Hospital in January 1948, and he remained head of the division for the next 26 years. His pioneering work laid the foundations for the establishment of a major academic neurosurgical service at Dalhousie University and was crucial for the establishment of neurosurgery in Atlantic Canada. After his retirement, Stevenson moved back to Ontario and began his second career, transferring his passion for neurosurgery to oil painting. His legacy to neurosurgery in Atlantic Canada will be remembered in perpetuity with the annual Neurosurgery Resident Research Award at Dalhousie University, established and named in his honour. This paper focuses on Stevenson's life and work in neurosurgery as Atlantic Canada's first neurosurgeon.