Dr. Wilder Penfield - Academics

Though Wilder had originally thought he would not study medicine, the field in which his father failed, he eventually decided that medicine was the most direct way "to make the world a better place in which to live". At Oxford, Wilder met renowned physiologist Dr. Charles Sherrington. Dr. Penfield credited Sherrington with introducing him to "the unexplored field -- the undiscovered country in which the mystery of the mind of man might some day be explained."

Another pivotal acquaintance Wilder made at Oxford was Sir William Osler. Osler, an ambitious fellow, took to Wilder right away, and decreed that Wilder could be a good doctor. Osler took Wilder with him to hospitals to treat patients. It was in Osler's home that Wilder recuperated from a torpedo that took place while Wilder was traveling across the English Channel on a Red Cross mission in in 1916. Incidentally, Penfield was erroneously pronounced dead and his obituary was printed in the paper.