R. F. Patrick Cronin
Encyclopedia
Robert Francis Patrick Cronin, FRCPC
, FACP
, FRCP
(1 September 1926 - 13 January 2007) was a cardiologist, researcher, professor, and healthcare consultant who served as Dean
of the Faculty of Medicine
at McGill University
from 1972 to 1977. Dr. Cronin became widely recognized for his work in developing countries. In the early 1960s, he initiated an exchange program between McGill and local doctors in Nairobi
, Kenya
, and he later worked for the Osler Medical Aid Foundation, now known as the McGill International Health Initiative. Additionally, he collaborated with the Canadian International Development Agency
to set up student exchange programs with Kenya
, Kuwait
, Bahrain
, Qatar
, Ethiopia
, Pakistan
and Tunisia
. Known for his eye for logistics, Dr. Cronin was recruited by the Aga Khan
in 1976 in an advisory capacity to help set up a teaching hospital
in Karachi
. For the next fifteen years, he continued to work for the Aga Khan Health Services
, overseeing the construction and operation of hospitals and healthcare facilities in Tanzania
, Pakistan, and Nairobi, as well as setting up their curriculum for educating medical personnel.
Dr. Cronin was born in London
, the son of the celebrated Scottish
writer and doctor, A.J. Cronin, and Mary Gibson, also a physician. His family moved to the United States
at the outbreak of World War II
, eventually moving to Greenwich, Connecticut
. He had been a boarder at Ampleforth College
in England, and upon moving to the U.S., he attended Portsmouth Abbey School
. One of his classmates there was Robert F. Kennedy
, and Cronin later dated Ethel Skakel
before her marriage to Kennedy. Having skipped a few grades, he enrolled at Princeton University
at the age of sixteen, though he interrupted his study when he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force
in 1943, training as a tail gunner
at the Borden Base
. He transferred to the British Army
between 1945 and 1947, where he helped with demilitarization and reconstruction in England. In January 1948, Cronin re-enrolled at Princeton and finished two more years before attending medical school at McGill and earning his MD in 1953. He received his MRCP
in 1955 and went to London to train at Hammersmith Hospital
and the Brompton Hospital
. Upon his return to Canada, he worked at the Montreal General Hospital
as a cardiologist, an internist, and a researcher.
Cronin later learned that he had not received his wartime equivalency degree at Princeton, as these were only conferred upon American students. Not having his undergraduate degree always bothered him, so in 1999, at the age of seventy-three, he enrolled once again at Princeton in order to resume the Bachelor of Arts degree which he had begun fifty years earlier. He took three courses, wrote his senior thesis, and was finally awarded his degree on 30 May 2000. In 2005, having taken 52 years and 111 days to earn this degree, he received a citation in the Guinness Book of World Records as the student who had spent the longest time in an undergraduate program.
In 1954, Cronin married a Canadian
, Sis Robertson, and they have three children. He died of pneumonia on 13 January 2007 in Territet, Switzerland
.
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada ' , French: Collège royal des médecins et chirurgiens du Canada, is a national, private, nonprofit organization established in 1929 by a special Act of Parliament to oversee the medical education of specialists in Canada...
, FACP
American College of Physicians
The American College of Physicians is a national organization of doctors of internal medicine —physicians who specialize in the prevention, detection, and treatment of illnesses in adults. With 130,000 members, ACP is the largest medical-specialty organization and second-largest physician group in...
, FRCP
Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians of London was founded in 1518 as the College of Physicians by royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518 - the first medical institution in England to receive a royal charter...
(1 September 1926 - 13 January 2007) was a cardiologist, researcher, professor, and healthcare consultant who served as Dean
Dean (education)
In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...
of the Faculty of Medicine
McGill University Faculty of Medicine
The Faculty of Medicine is one of the constituent faculties of McGill University. It was established in 1823 as the Montreal Medical Institution, and became the first faculty of McGill College in 1829; it was the first medical faculty to be established in Canada....
at McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
from 1972 to 1977. Dr. Cronin became widely recognized for his work in developing countries. In the early 1960s, he initiated an exchange program between McGill and local doctors in Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, and he later worked for the Osler Medical Aid Foundation, now known as the McGill International Health Initiative. Additionally, he collaborated with the Canadian International Development Agency
Canadian International Development Agency
The Canadian International Development Agency was formed in 1968 by the Canadian government. CIDA administers foreign aid programs in developing countries, and operates in partnership with other Canadian organizations in the public and private sectors as well as other international organizations...
to set up student exchange programs with Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
, Bahrain
Bahrain
' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
, Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
. Known for his eye for logistics, Dr. Cronin was recruited by the Aga Khan
Aga Khan IV
Prince Karim, Aga Khan IV, NPk, NI, KBE, CC, GCC, GCIH, GCM is the 49th and current Imam of the Shia Imami Nizari Ismaili Muslims. He has held this position under the title of Aga Khan since July 11, 1957, when, at the age of 20, he succeeded his grandfather, Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan...
in 1976 in an advisory capacity to help set up a teaching hospital
Teaching hospital
A teaching hospital is a hospital that provides clinical education and training to future and current doctors, nurses, and other health professionals, in addition to delivering medical care to patients...
in Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
. For the next fifteen years, he continued to work for the Aga Khan Health Services
Aga Khan Health Services
The Aga Khan Health Services is an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network that supports activities in the health field, and manages more than 200 health facilities including a network of Aga Khan Hospitals....
, overseeing the construction and operation of hospitals and healthcare facilities in Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
, Pakistan, and Nairobi, as well as setting up their curriculum for educating medical personnel.
Dr. Cronin was born in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, the son of the celebrated Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
writer and doctor, A.J. Cronin, and Mary Gibson, also a physician. His family moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
at the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, eventually moving to Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...
. He had been a boarder at Ampleforth College
Ampleforth College
Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire, England, is the largest Roman Catholic co-educational boarding independent school in the United Kingdom. It opened in 1802, as a boys' school, and is run by the Benedictine monks and lay staff of Ampleforth Abbey...
in England, and upon moving to the U.S., he attended Portsmouth Abbey School
Portsmouth Abbey School
Portsmouth Abbey School is a private, coeducational boarding and day school for grades 9 through 12, located in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. Founded by the Benedictine monks of Portsmouth Abbey in 1926 as Portsmouth Priory School, the school offered a classical education to boys...
. One of his classmates there was Robert F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
, and Cronin later dated Ethel Skakel
Ethel Skakel Kennedy
Ethel Skakel Kennedy is the widow of Robert F. Kennedy, who served as Attorney General of the United States and a United States Senator for the state of New York.-Early life:...
before her marriage to Kennedy. Having skipped a few grades, he enrolled at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
at the age of sixteen, though he interrupted his study when he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...
in 1943, training as a tail gunner
Tail gunner
A tail gunner or rear gunner is a crewman on a military aircraft who functions as a gunner defending against enemy fighter attacks from the rear, or "tail", of the plane. The tail gunner operates a flexible machine gun emplacement on either the top or tail end of the aircraft with a generally...
at the Borden Base
CFB Borden
Canadian Forces Base Borden is a Canadian Forces base located in Ontario.The historic birthplace of the Royal Canadian Air Force, CFB Borden is the largest training facility in the Canadian Forces...
. He transferred to the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
between 1945 and 1947, where he helped with demilitarization and reconstruction in England. In January 1948, Cronin re-enrolled at Princeton and finished two more years before attending medical school at McGill and earning his MD in 1953. He received his MRCP
MRCP
MRCP may be:* Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography, in medical imaging, a technique to visualise the biliary tract and pancreatic ducts....
in 1955 and went to London to train at Hammersmith Hospital
Hammersmith Hospital
Hammersmith Hospital is a major teaching hospital in West London. It is part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and is associated with the Imperial College Faculty of Medicine...
and the Brompton Hospital
Royal Brompton Hospital
Royal Brompton Hospital is the largest specialist heart and lung centre in the United Kingdom .The hospital is part of Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust is a national and international specialist heart and lung centre based in Chelsea, London and Harefield, Middlesex...
. Upon his return to Canada, he worked at the Montreal General Hospital
Montreal General Hospital
The Montreal General Hospital is a hospital in Montreal, Canada, established on May 1, 1819 and an early teaching hospital. First located on the corner of Craig and St-Lawrence Streets with only 24 beds, it moved in 1822 to a new 72-bed building on Dorchester Street. It is currently situated on...
as a cardiologist, an internist, and a researcher.
Cronin later learned that he had not received his wartime equivalency degree at Princeton, as these were only conferred upon American students. Not having his undergraduate degree always bothered him, so in 1999, at the age of seventy-three, he enrolled once again at Princeton in order to resume the Bachelor of Arts degree which he had begun fifty years earlier. He took three courses, wrote his senior thesis, and was finally awarded his degree on 30 May 2000. In 2005, having taken 52 years and 111 days to earn this degree, he received a citation in the Guinness Book of World Records as the student who had spent the longest time in an undergraduate program.
In 1954, Cronin married a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Sis Robertson, and they have three children. He died of pneumonia on 13 January 2007 in Territet, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.