Dr. BF Hammond (1818-1890) was on of my g-g grandfathers. He is always referred to as “Dr.” even though his primary occupation was farming in Alabama and Texas. I have often wondered what his medical training was. Was there any kind of licensing in place back then or could anybody just call themselves “Doctor”?
It might just be a courtesy - or it might be a doctorate in law, or philosophy.
Your own saw.
One of my ancestors, born in 1812, was a practicing MD in rural NY/PA. He was originally a harness maker but later apprenticed with a local physician to learn medicine. His formal, college level, instruction consisted of periodic clinical seminars. Completion of these resulted in “attendance cards” which are now very collectible.
So, at least his medical education was mostly OJT.
This individual & mentor were caught up in a great scandal when they paid to feed and support a murderer in return for his corpse after hanging. They did this to study human anatomy.
In Britain at least, an MD would have no use for a saw other than to cut wood. MDs were medical doctors not surgeons - surgeons were considered by ‘doctors’ to be little better than the butchers many of them once were. Very few doctors would carry out surgical procedures.
This is reflected in the reverse snobbery whereby surgeons in this country are referred to as ‘Mr’ and not ‘Dr’.
Okay, your own leeches.
Sorry, still in the realm of the barber-surgeon. Manual labor hardly befits a gentleman, you know.
A physician took a case history, performed an examination, and made a diagnosis which implied a course of therapy. Various laborers did the dirty work.
Third try:
your own leather mask with talc lenses and the beak stuffed with wads soaked in camphor.
Here’s a good overview of the history of medicine in the U.S.: Doctor of medicine profession (MD): MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia
I remember reading that the U.S. Army had to weed out a lot of quacks and hacks who volunteered to serve as surgeons once the Civil War began. Standardization of American medical school studies didn’t come until after 1910: Flexner Report - Wikipedia
The “modern” medical education system didn’t start to take off until well after the Civil War. This article sugar coats the sorry state of medical training in the US in the early years. It avoids mentioning how small a percentage of physicians had any formal training until around the 1880s.
A few had “elite” training in a real medical school. The rest were mainly trained as apprentices, who in turn trained other apprentices.
The concept of an actual “MD” being equated with being a physician is a fairly late development. Virtually no one prior to or during the Civil War would have been treated by an MD.
Note that as the above article states, the material and type of training one recieved in a real medical degree course changed quite a bit in the late 1880s. E.g., it says: “Laboratory work was sparse, and even in the clinical subjects, no opportunity to work with patients was provided. Examinations were brief and superficial; virtually the only requirement for graduation was the ability to pay the fees.”
Were these old doctors grandfathered in and allowed to continue practicing indefinitely, or was there a point (e.g. 1940’s, 1950’s, etc.) where “old tyme” country doctors had to go back and get a real medical degree and/or pass new exams?
FWIW, one of my direct paternal ancestors was born on a farm in Illinois and ended up practicing medicine circa 1900. Apparently he had attended UIUC for at least some time so at least he did have some semblance of a university education.
Wouldn’t physicians also have provided psychotherapy (or at least something resembling psychotherapy, even if not as effective as the modern kind) as well? Shakespeare’s Macbeth involves a physician being criticized for not being able to treat “a mind diseased”.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe Johns Hopkins in Maryland was the institution that established the system that is standard in the US today for producing a qualified, certified physician.
I also get the impression that other countires do not use this system, and that in some places it may be much more simple.
Requirements have not changed much. You need the patience to sit through endless hours of classes, then go poke a few suckers in the ER, pass a test, get a license, a nurse with a nice rack, golf clubs, and malpractice insurance. Malpractice insurance and the nurse tied for being the most important.