History of American Healthcare, Lecture 3: Medicine after the Revolution

After the Revolution, American was severed from the European seat of orthodox medical power. American orthodox doctors were forced to establish their own schools, their own dogma, and their own leaders. Much of what glued orthodox doctors together and led to copious research was the medical racial script, much of which was inscribed in the standard medical school curriculum North and South. However, during the Republican period, Americans eschewed labels, rules, and favoritism. This translated into an ideal that anyone who thought themselves to be a doctor could be, without any desire to regulate physician education or practice. For instance, no states maintained licensing requirements despite an orthodox push to do so. Alternative medical ideas flourished. We will discuss how orthodox medicine responded and how the American School--researches focused on racial medicine--lofted America into some degree of intellectual independence.