History of British Medical Education

Setting the standard:Medical Education's first 50 years

“…This is especially appropriate in the case of medical education. In almost any field of human endeavour it is easier to see where we are and where we are going if we know where we have come from.’…”

History of American Medical Education

“…American chirurgeons and physicians were the products of an apprenticeship‐type system similar to that of the mother country (Bosworth, 1898). ‘The apprenticeship was to be by far the commonest form of instruction in Britain until towards the end of the nineteenth century,’ wrote Clarke in a recent survey (Clarke, 1966). It should be stressed that conditions in the colonies often necessitated or favoured the practice of men who lacked even the most rudimentary type of training.…”

Some Features of Medical Education in Great Britain During the First Half of the Nineteenth Century

“…From this period in the form of the Apothecaries’ Act of 1815 dates the main basis for legislation which established the professions. In this period were founded 10 English provincial medical schools (Clarke, 1966) as well as the first colleges of the University of London, the British Medical Association, and the Royal Medico‐Psychological Association. Acts transforming public health and psychiatric practice were passed (especially the Lunacy Art or Wynne's Act, 1808) and a leading scientific and clinical journal, The Lancet , was founded among others.…”