The Development of Modern Medicine

Shryock, Richard H.

doi:10.9783/9781512818680

Cited by 47 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The current wave of criticism of medicine; our doubts about its effectiveness and humanity; our interest in social rather than biological explanations of health and disease: all these received an even more powerful expression in the first half of the nineteenth century. Just as some modem epidemiologists have come to have doubts about the effectiveness of much of modem medicine, so the therapeutic nihilists of the nineteenth century applied statistical methods to the cures of their day, to blood-letting and the like, and found them wanting (Shryock 1979;Starr 1982). And just as modem statisticians, social scientists and community physicians have proclaimed the importance of social as much as biological factors in the production of health, so in the nineteenth century, doctors such as Virchow, engineers such as Chad wick, teachers like Shattuck and nurses such as Nightingale proclaimed the importance of social and environmental reform (Shryock 1979).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It was to prove, however, a difficult and prolonged delivery. The birth finally took place in the Paris hospital system in the first half of the nineteenth century (Shryock 1979). The techniques developed there and extended by the Germans formed the basis, both of scientific medicine and of a new division of medical and scientific labour; a set of approaches, disciplines and relationships which have been much elaborated but which have not yet, so far at least, fundamentally changed.…”

Section: The Growth Of Scientific Medicinementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The natural sciences have long been involved with medicine, but the 194O's onwards has seen the systematic application of a relatively new set of disciplines -the mathematical sciences, the social sciences and, most recently of all, moral philosophy. Mathematics and social science go back a long way in medicine (Shryock 1979) but their application on a major scale is new.…”

Section: The Non-clinical Assault Upon Medicinementioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Viewpoint: the academic encirclement of medicine?

Strong

1984

Sociology Health & Illness

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Though we all have need of doctors, the amount of faith we place in their advice seems to vary from age to age. At the moment, we live in an era of increasing scepticism. The cost, the effectiveness and the humanity of modem medicine are all the subject of controversy. Has bio-medicine really contributed much towards better health? Or is it mostly due to better nutrition, sanitation and housing? Do surgery or chemotherapy on a massive scale actually cure us or are they both ineffective and iatrogenic, piloducing rather than mitigating human misery? Does medicine free us from disease or does it serve as an instrument of social control? The new philosophy calls all in doubt.The new philosophers are a mixed bunch -historians, lawyers, theologians, acupuncturists, ecologists, community physicians, faith healers, activists, statisticians and social scientists. One of the things we have in common, apart from an interest in health, is the hope that we might wax as conventional medicine wanes. How likely is this? This is the question that this paper sets out to explore, though it focusses on just one segment of the new philosophers, the non-medical academics and their aspirations to re-shape the course of medical practice. It asks what chance have sociologists or statisticians actually got to re-shape the medical world?In attempting to answer this question, the paper is divided into five main sections. The first offers a quick historical sketch of the development of a scientific approach within medicine, while the second describes the rapid growth of various non-clinical disciplines with an interest in health and disease and their assault on the medical citadel. It focusses primarily on the extent to which they are accepted as colleagues by the medical profession and provides several reasons for thinking that the power of the non-clinical disciplines is growing, that some doctors welcome the prospect while others are somewhat alarmed. This interesting vision is then heavily qualified. The third section observes that, for all the extraordinary fragmentation of medicine into different specialisms, the profession has maintained a separate community, a solitary and isolated way of life which normally overrides the internal division of labour. To penetrate this is a hard task indeed. Moreover, as

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Growth Of Scientific Medicinementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Non-clinical Assault Upon Medicinementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Viewpoint: the academic encirclement of medicine?

Strong

1984

Sociology Health & Illness

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The history of midwifery has been well documented by medical historians (c.f. Shryock, 1936Shryock, , 1960Shryock, , 1966Thoms, 1960Thoms, , 1961 and more recently by critical feminist theorists (c.f. Arms, 1975;Corea, 1977;Rothman, 1982;Scully, 1980), but systematic, national, empirical research about midwifery is badly needed.…”

Section: Research and Policy Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Midwives in the United States: past and present

Radosh

1986

Popul Res Policy Rev

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The main focus of the present paper is to place the current occupation of certified nursemidwife (CNM) within the historical context of the decline of lay midwifery and the rise of the medical profession. The development and growth of nurse-midwifery is documented, as well as current problems facing the profession. The most salient contemporary issue is cancellation of malpractice insurance for 1400 CNMs in 1985. The consequences of this, and suggested policy changes, are explored. Midwives in the U.S.: past and presentIn colonial America the midwife's post was one of the most important in the community. Since it was beneath the dignity of male physicians to act as obstetricians, women had a virtual monopoly over the practice (Packard, 1963: 53). Our first midwives were European women who emigrated to the colonies. These women undoubtedly practiced in Europe and transported their skills to the New World (Thoms, 1961: 3). Yet, rigid role expectations for women of the period prevented extension of the practice of midwifery beyond simple deliveries, and if the bii:th was in any way atypical, midwives were blamed for the complications.In spite of the danger of blame and punishment for difficulties, deaths, or birth defects which were encountered at the time of delivery, midwives did deliver the majority of babies born at this time. Midwives were rather well thought of and prominent members of the community. Thorns (1960: 10) reports how the Widow Bradley in 1655 was furnished with a house and lot rent-free in New Haven as long as she continued her services as a midwife. Other midwives received houses, money in the form of a yearly stipend, tobacco, or other gifts as support and in exchange for their services. In general, midwives were greatly respected and had strong relationships with their patients. They frequently participated in baptisms or the burial of infants, and women with gynecological problems would tell midwives things they would be reluctant to tell a doctor. In addition, midwives testified in court cases involving bastardy, verified birth dates, and examined female prisoners who had pleaded pregnancy to escape punishment (Scholter, 1977: 440).

show abstract

“…Their efforts were noted by a number of leading journalists of the time, some of whom were inspired to conduct corroborative investigations (25). The deluge of adverse publicity served to stimulate the public conscience sufficiently to increase dollar allotments in mental hospital appropriations (26 Changing patterns of care. In the transitional years that followed this milestone in the mental hygiene movement, alterations in the methods of hospital care afforded benefits to many psychiatric patients.…”

Section: Forces For Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Trends in Psychiatric Hospital Care of Geriatric Patients in the United States

Hefferin¹

1968

J American Geriatrics Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

State (or public) mental hospitals in the United States, like many other social institutions, came into being in response to a recognized social need for providing facilities which would offer security for the mentally ill in the population. This review of the history of these hospitals reveals several recurring themes: the tendency for public shifting of the responsibility for the care of the poor and the mentally ill upon the government, and the shifting of this same responsibility between the levels of government (from community to local to state to local community); the periodic rousing of the public interest and compassion by reform movements, too soon followed by public return to apathy or diversion to more rewarding issues; and the recurring conflict between socio‐cultural and scientific values with regard to costs of application of psychotherapeutic methods for care of the patients. Further analysis of the data also reveals that there has been an improvement over time with regard to the physical care of patients, but not in the reduction of their numbers through this care. In fact, until just recently, better care seemed to result only in a greater average duration of hospital stay for many patients, if only because they now lived longer. After rather belatedly becoming concerned about the rising incidence of mental illness in an ever‐increasing population and therefore higher admission rates to already over‐crowded state mental hospitals, the Federal Government authorized a series of studies of the problem, and has passed legislation to begin an alleviation of the situation. Possible outcomes of these legislative measures have been discussed, along with some possibly negative effects if too‐hasty action should be taken in lieu of careful planning.

show abstract

The Development of Modern Medicine

Cited by 47 publications

References 0 publications

Viewpoint: the academic encirclement of medicine?

Viewpoint: the academic encirclement of medicine?

Midwives in the United States: past and present

Trends in Psychiatric Hospital Care of Geriatric Patients in the United States

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About