When the University of Saskatchewan was created in 1907 it was dubbed the “people’s university”. It was created not merely to educate students in attendance but to extend knowledge to the province as a whole and to act as a tool in the advancement of society. One of the areas where the University of Saskatchewan acted for the greater good was in medicine.

Medicine was on the list of colleges envisioned by the Board of Governors in 1909. Deemed initially infeasible, it was felt that a bacteriologist was needed in Saskatoon since “there was much concern at that time over ‘sore throats and diptheria.’” Dr. W. Stewart Lindsay came to the University as Professor of Bacteriology in 1919. His laboratory, in one of the greenhouses, was the first medical teaching facility in what would become the School of Medical Sciences in 1926.

Between 1926 and 1956, students at the University of Saskatchewan were able to take two years of basic pre-medical classes prior to enrolment at a major medical school in Canada for the final two years of instruction. The School became a college in 1952.

The opening of the provincially funded University Hospital in 1955 aided the College’s growth as a teaching and research centre. In 1956 students begin taking their entire medical course in Saskatchewan. By having a College of Medicine, Saskatchewan was able to attract specialists, conduct research, and retain greater numbers of physicians.

The Physics Department at the University of Saskatchewan also played a key role in the development of medicine in Saskatchewan. Starting in the 1920s with E.L. Harrington’s research into the medical use of radiation and the construction of Western Canada’s first radon plant, the department built for itself a reputation based upon experimentation and innovation.

The post-war period saw the University of Saskatchewan in the forefront of nuclear physics in Canada. In 1948, Canada's first betatron was used for research programs in nuclear physics, radiation chemistry, cancer therapy and radiation biology. Next, the world's first non-commercial cobalt-60 therapy unit for the treatment of cancer was officially opened in 1951. Much of the innovation and research grew out a long partnership with a variety of provincial governments.