The medical profession had as much influence on the lives of our ancestors as it does on our lives today. It occupied an extraordinary range of individuals - surgeons, doctors, nurses and specialists of all kinds. Yet, despite burgeoning interest in all aspects of history and ancestry, medicine has rarely been considered from the point of view of a family historian. This is the main purpose of Michelle Higgs’s accessible and authoritative introduction to the subject.
Assuming the reader has little prior knowledge of how or where to look for such information, she traces the development of medical practice and patient care. She describes how attitudes to illnesses and disease have changed over time. In particular, she looks at the parts played in the system by doctors and nurses - at their role, training and places of work and she also looks at the patients and their experience of medicine in their day.'
Each section identifies the archives and records that the family historian can turn to, and discusses other potential sources including the Internet. The book is an invaluable guide to all the information that can give an insight into the experience of an ancestor who worked in medicine or had a medical history.
Contents:
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Section 1. The Medical Profession
1. The Role of the Medical Profession
2. Training and Qualifications
3. Places of Work
4. Development of the Medical Profession
Section 2. The Nursing Profession
5. Nursing Before 1860
6. Traing and Qualifications
7. Working Conditions for Nurses
8. Places of Work
9. Development of the Nursing Profession
Section 3. Patients
10. Medical Treatment for Patients
Section 4. Sources
11. General Sources
12. Sources for Physicians, Surgeons and Apothecaries
13. Sources for Military Medical Officers
14. Sources for Other Medical Professionals
15. Sources for Civilian Nurses
16. Sources for Military Nurses
17. Sources for Patients
Appendix 1. Nursing Terminology
Appendix 2. Glossary of Medical Qualifications
Appendix 3. Alphabetical List of Useful Contacts
Appendix 4. Bibliography
Index
