Queen of the Professions: The Rise and Decline of Medical Prestige and Power in America

216 Pages·2014·0.927 MB·English

by  Charles E McClelland

Queen of the Professions

Queen of the Professions
The Rise and Decline of Medical Prestige
and Power in America
Charles E. McClelland
ROWMAN&LITTLEFIELD
Lanham•Boulder•NewYork•London
PublishedbyRowman&Littlefield
AwhollyownedsubsidiaryofTheRowman&LittlefieldPublishingGroup,Inc.
4501ForbesBoulevard,Suite200,Lanham,Maryland20706
www.rowman.com
16CarlisleStreet,LondonW1D3BT,UnitedKingdom
Copyright©2014byCharlesE.McClelland
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformorbyany
electronicormechanicalmeans,includinginformationstorageandretrievalsystems,
withoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher,exceptbyareviewerwhomayquote
passagesinareview.
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationInformationAvailable
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
McClelland,CharlesE.
Queenoftheprofessions:theriseanddeclineofmedicalprestigeandpowerinAmerica/CharlesE.
McClelland.
pagescm
Summary:"Onlyinthelatterpartofthenineteenthcenturydidmedicineachievethefulleight
characteristicsofamodernprofession.Andyet,soquickly,ithasseenone--autonomy--erodesignifi-
cantlyandisbeginningtoexperiencethecrumblingofanother:monopolyofthemarketofservices.
Cansocialprestigeandeconomicrewardsbefarbehind?"--Providedbypublisher.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-1-4422-2630-2(cloth:alkalinepaper)--ISBN978-1-4422-2631-9(electronic)
1.Medicine--UnitedStates--History.2.Physicians--UnitedStates--History.3.Medicalethics--Unit-
edStates--History.4.Medicaleconomics--UnitedStates--History.5.Prestige--History.6.Power
(Socialsciences)--History.7.Autonomy--History.8.Monopolies--History.I.Title.
R152.M352014
610.973--dc23
2014021708
TMThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsofAmerican
NationalStandardforInformationSciencesPermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibrary
Materials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992.
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Dedicatedtothememoryof
PrudarillaRebeccaMetcalfMcClelland(1847-1924),whobrought
medicalcaretotheTexasfrontier.

Contents
AcknowledgmentsandPreface ix
Introduction xiii
I:FromHealingArttoScientificProfession:Medicine500BCE
to1850CE 1
1 SwearingbyApollo 3
2 TheLevant:SavingGraceoftheMiddleAges 9
3 Physicians,Barbers,and“OldWives” 15
4 HospitalsorHospices? 23
5 GiftsfromtheSisterSciences 31
II:TheMakingofaDoctor:TheEvolutionofMedicalEducation 41
6 AcolytesandApprentices 43
7 StartingwithSalerno:Europe’sFirstMedicalSchools 47
8 FromSacrilegetoScience:DissectionandObservation 55
9 ThreePathsLeadingtoModernMedicalEducation 65
10 MoneyTalks:AbrahamFlexner’sReforms 73
11 HighTech,LowTouch? 87
III:MedicalEthics 99
12 ASacredTrust:RootsofMedicalEthics 101
13 First,DoNoHarm:TheIntroductionofHumanisticValues 109
14 ThePhysicianasGentleman 115
vii
viii Contents
15 BalancingIndividualandPublicBenefit:ExperimentalAbuses 125
16 GodsNoMore:TheRiseofPatients’Rights 135
17 CollisionsofCultures 137
IV:TheFutureofMedicineasaProfession:FromHippocrates
toDr.House 141
18 Cures,atLast! 143
19 TheConundrumofInsurance:RaisingIncome,Threatening
Autonomy 151
20 ExpandingAccesstothePhysician’sRole 155
21 WhatItAllMeans 159
Notes 175
Bibliography 185
Index 189