Chung, Madeline
Dr. Madeline Chung was both the first Chinese Canadian and the first female obstetrician and gynecologist in British Columbia. Trained at the Yale-in-China Medical School in Hunan, China, she came to Canada shortly after the repeal of The Chinese Immigration Act, 1923 in order to intern in Victoria, British Columbia and Montreal, Quebec. After completing her education at the renowned Mayo Clinic in the United States, Dr. Chung permanently immigrated to Vancouver, British Columbia in the mid 1950s. A Vancouver bank denied a loan application to open her first practice, for fear that she would get pregnant and default on her loan. Despite this obstacle, Dr. Chung went on to establish a successful solo practice in Vancouver that served new immigrants and women of various ethno-cultural backgrounds. Over her busy forty-year career, Dr. Chung delivered a total of 6,530 children. At the time of the interview, she and her husband, Dr. Wallace Chung, continued to reside in Vancouver.
In this photo, Dr. Madeline Chung stands beside her husband Dr. Wallace Chung, a retired vascular surgeon and former head of surgery at University of British Columbia (UBC) hospital. The two met in Montreal, Quebec, where Madeline was completing an internship and Wallace was studying at McGill University. Both husband and wife have been active members of the medical and cultural communities. With the help of his wife, Dr. Wallace Chung assembled an extensive research collection of over 25,000 materials on Canadian Pacific Railway and Steamships, Chinese Canadian history, and British Columbia’s maritime exploration. The Chung Collection is now housed at the Irving K. Barber Centre, UBC.
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