Dr. Leith Douglas was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and after earning his medical degree from Dalhousie University in 1962 he went on to study plastic surgery in Toronto, Sweden, Austria and England, receiving his fellowship in 1967. He practiced in Toronto at The Wellesley and St. Michael’s Hospitals and finished his career in the operating room at the Toronto Western Hospital in 2011.
Dr. Douglas studied with the late Professor Tord Skoog at the University of Uppsala, Sweden and with hans Bruck in Vienna on a McLaughlin Scholarship. He worked as a consultant at the former Wellesley Hospital and the adjacent Princess Margaret Hospital for many years with a focus on skin cancer. One of the highlights in his life was his enthusiastic work as plastic surgeon to the Toronto Maple Leafs for 36 years. He was instrumental with Drs. WRN Lindsay and A. Ross Tilley in establishing the regional burn center at the old Wellesley Hospital site. He made a significant contribution to the Canadian Society of Plastic Surgery with the publication of his book “The History of the Canadian Society of Plastic Surgeons” in 1983 detailing the first 35 years of the society. Like many surgeons of his day, he was a remarkable character and continued to support the division for many years after his retirement.
