Thomas Barnes Futcher

Futcher, a professor at Johns Hopkins who trained under William Osler, was born in St. Thomas, Ontario. He received an M.B. from the University of Toronto Medical School in 1893. Moving to Maryland in 1894, Futcher worked briefly at the Garrett Sanitarium at Mt. Airy before serving as William Osler’s assistant resident physician in medicine at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. From 1896 to 1898, he studied at the University of Graz in Austria and at the University of Strassbourg.

In 1897, Futcher was appointed associate of medicine at Johns Hopkins and became resident physician in 1898. In 1901, he became associate professor of medicine, and in 1914, associate professor of clinical medicine and a visiting physician of The Johns Hopkins Hospital. He also was chief of the dispensary at the hospital and developed an extensive private practice.

During World War I, Futcher served as Lt. Colonel in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. He was placed in charge of the Medicial Division of No. 16 Canadian General Hospital at Orpington, Kent, England. At the conclusion of the war, he returned to Baltimore and resumed his work at Johns Hopkins and in his private practice.

Futcher develped expertise in the treatment of diabetes, gout, and diseases of the endocrine glands. He contributed to the medical literature on these subjects.

Futcher was active in the Baltimore City Medical Society, serving as its president in 1921. He was president of the Association of American Physicians in 1931. He also served as a member of the Medical Board of The Johns Hopkins Hospital.