Fonds F37 - Donald Elliott Zarfas fonds

Donald Elliott Zarfas was born on 3 July 1920 in Hamilton, Ontario. He and his family moved to Orillia when he was six years old. He grew up on the grounds of the Orillia Hospital School for infants, children and adults with developmental disabilities (formerly called mental retardation), which later became the Huronia Regional Centre. His father was the business manager at the hospital. Growing up in this environment sparked an interest in working with persons with developmental disabilities, and this became the life-long focus of his later career. Sometime after finishing secondary school at Orillia Collegiate Institute, Donald served in the Royal Canadian Air Force and Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps Reserve (1941 - 1946). Returning to school, he later obtained a medical degree from Queen's University in Kingston in 1952, a Diploma in Psychiatry from the University of Toronto in 1957, and a Specialist Certificate in Psychiatry from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in 1958. His post-graduate training included a Junior Rotating Residency at Hotel Dieu Hospital in Kingston (1952 - 1953), a residency in psychiatry at the University of Toronto (1955 - 1957), and a course in mental retardation at Letchworth Village in New York (1958). Dr. Zarfas held many professional appointments throughout his career, beginning with a position at the Ontario Hospital School in Orillia (1953 - 1955). In 1958 he became a Staff Psychiatrist at Ontario Hospital, Hamilton, and a Psychiatric Consultant to Lynwood Hall, which was also in Hamilton (1958 - 1959). Moving on to London, Ontario, he helped to found the Children's Psychiatric Research Institute (CPRI) at the University of Western Ontario in December 1959. He was its first Superintendent, a position he held until June 1965. While at the University of Western Ontario, Dr. Zarfas also held teaching positions, specifically as a Clinical Lecturer in Psychiatry (1960 - 1963) and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry (1963 - 1965). In addition, Dr. Zarfas served as a Consultant in Mental Retardation to the Ontario Ministry of Health during that time (1963 - June 1965). Dr. Zarfas moved to Toronto to fill the position of Director of the Mental Retardation Services Branch of the Ontario Ministry of Health in July 1965 and held that position until March 1974. Dr. Zarfas was one of the key persons who worked on the transferral of the Mental Retardation Services Branch from the Ministry of Health to the Ministry of Community and Social Services, and became the Executive Director of the Mental Retardation Program Development Division of the latter Ministry in April 1974. He was also responsible for bringing Dr. Benjt Nirje - a world leader in the field of normalization with respect to mental retardation - and Dr. Joe Berg, an expert in Down Sydrome - to work with him at the Ontario Ministry of Health from Denmark and Great Britain, respectively. Returning to London in 1974, Dr. Zarfas resumed various teaching appointments in the Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University of Western Ontario. More specifically, he was a Clinical Professor in both Departments from 1974 to 1975, an Associate Professor in both Departments in October 1976, the Acting Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry (1977 - 1978), a Professor of Psychiatry and the Associate Director of Pediatrics (July 1978), a Professor of Pediatrics (1980), the Assistant Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry (August 1981), and the Acting Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry (October 1985 - June 1986). Dr. Zarfas became a Professor Emeritus in Psychiatry and Pediatrics in 1988. Aside from his clinical and teaching appointments, Dr. Zarfas was a consultant to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Community and Social Services with regard to numerous institutions that treated persons with developmental disabilities located in Southwestern Ontario. He was also a consultant to several other health related organizations such as the World Health Organization, for which he was a consultant in mental retardation from 1969-1970. In addition, Dr. Zarfas was an important member of many committees and a participant in several task forces throughout his career. For instance, he chaired the Professional Advisory Council of the Canadian Association for Retarded Children (1964 - 1975) and he chaired the provincial Professional Advisory Committee for the Ministry of Community and Social Services and the Ministry's Task Force on Disturbed Retarded in the 1970s and 1980s. He also sat on numerous committees while employed at the University of Western Ontario (UWO) including the UWO/CPRI Liaison Committee and the Appointments, Tenure and Promotions Committee. Dr. Zarfas was an active member of several professional associations, including serving as President of the Ontario Psychiatric Association (OPA) and chair of the OPA's Legislative Review Committee. He was also a member of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), a Fellow of the American Association on Mental Deficiency (AAMD) (1968), a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (1972), a member the International Association for the Scientific Study of Mental Retardation (IASSMD), a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Psychiatric Association (CPA), a member of the Canadian Academy of Child Psychiatrists, a member of the Harvey Club, and a member of the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem. In the area of research in the field of developmental disabilities, Dr. Zarfas was an author or co-author of several significant studies pertaining to such issues as the relationship of Depo Provera to breast cancer, the incidence of Down's Syndrome with respect to maternal age, the sterilization of people with developmental disabilities, and other human rights issues with respect to persons with developmental disabilities. A long-term research interest and specialty of Dr. Zarfas was that of dually diagnosed persons-that is, persons diagnosed both as having developmental disabilities as well as some form of mental illness. For his long and distinguished career, Dr. Zarfas was awarded the Surrey Place Centre (Toronto) Award of Merit on 28 Sept. 1983 and the Hull-Roeher Award of Merit, the latter of which was presented to him by Ontario's Minister of Community and Social Services at the annual meeting of the Ontario Chapter, American Association on Mental Deficiency on 7 May 1986. He also received the American Psychiatric Association Gold Award on behalf of the Children's Psychiatric Research Institute (CPRI) as its founder in 1970, and has a room named after him at the Surrey Place Centre. Dr. Zarfas was one of the leading proponents for moving mental retardation out of field of psychiatry and into the field of community and social services, for moving people with development disabilities out of large impersonal institutions and into community-based facilities such as group homes, and for moving away from over-medication of persons with developmental disabilities to other forms of treatment. He was also a strong advocate for the human rights of persons with developmental disabilities and that they be treated fairly, humanely and, more than anything, respectfully. Dr. Zarfas died from the effects of leukemia in London, Ontario, on 12 October 2001. He was survived by his wife Jean, who was also a highly regarded physician, and their two daughters. Dr. Jean Zarfas died of cancer on 29 March 2003.