Bruce Magoffin Carruthers

Bruce Magoffin Carruthers May 7, 1933- July 21, 2017 Dr. Bruce M. Carruthers, M.D., C.M., F.R.C.P. (C), was born in Mahableshwar and raised in Miraj, India. He was the only son and middle child of missionary parents, a Canadian father and American mother. Like many missionary children, he attended the Kodaikanal International School in Tamil Nadu, graduating in 1950. Bruce then came to Canada for medical school at Queen's University in Kingston, his father's alma mater. While at Queen's he met his first wife, Janet Greenhow, the mother of his three children and a nursing student at the time. He continued his medical education with an internship at Charity Hospital in New Orleans and a residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and then settled with his family in Vancouver in 1961. Early in his career, he specialized in internal medicine and the treatment of metabolic diseases like diabetes, and for many years practiced at Shaughnessy and St Vincent's Hospitals, and was on faculty at UBC. He developed a deep interest in Iyengar yoga in the late 1960s, and was a pioneer in incorporating yoga as part of a preventive approach to patient health. As his thinking on comprehensive care evolved he turned his attention to fibromyalgia syndrome, and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, co-authoring the Canadian Consensus Documents for each of these and advancing their medical understanding and treatment. He was also an avid student of philosophy, history of science, non-Western medicine, social commentary, and for decades was a particularly good customer at Duthie Books. For a time, he resided with his second wife Maureen Carruthers on Galiano Island in semi-retirement, but returned to Vancouver. In a lifetime of devoted medical practice, he treated and helped thousands of patients and strove to fulfill in full measure his Hippocratic Oath. After a debilitating stroke in 2012, he moved to the Arbutus Care Center in Vancouver, where he received superb care. His children wish to thank the ACC staff for their professionalism and compassion, and to thank Sharon Shiels, his good friend and former patient, for her unending kindness. The staff at VGH provided excellent medical treatment during his final days. To the end of his life, he enjoyed music, art, and a good Indian curry. He is survived by his three children, Bruce, Elspeth and Andrew, three grandchildren, Samuel, Esther and Gladys, two former wives, Janet Greenhow and Maureen Carruthers, and his two sisters, Mary Carruthers and Virginia Hegseth. His wife, Janella Fleming, pre-deceased him. A memorial service will be set at a future date. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the medical charity of your choice.