History of Medicine
This is a brief guide to selected sources of information on the history of medicine.
The first listings on this page are databases to which the UIC Library subscribes. These can be
accessed by anyone from the Library of the Health Sciences or elsewhere on the UIC campus.
Access from other locations is limited to UIC students, faculty, and staff who have a valid
netID and password. A link to freely available Web sources is also included, as are books in the
LHS collection. This is not a comprehensive list of resources. For further assistance please
ask for help at the
Information Services desk.
Databases |
Web Resources |
Journals |
Books
Databases
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MeSH/PubMed
The National Library of Medicine maintained a database called HISTLINE from the 1970s to the 1990s,
at which point the HISTLINE records got folded into what is now PubMed. This link takes you to MeSH,
the Medical Subject Headings database. Search in this database with the term "History of Medicine"
(or other related terms), to find the "official" names MeSH uses for the subject you have in mind.
Then, switch into the
PubMed database
(you can also do this from within MeSH) and use the term(s) you found to find articles.
MeSH and PubMed are available to the general public for free, but UIC faculty, staff,
and students can enter
a version of PubMed
that includes links to many online full-text journals.
Web Resources
Both depth and accuracy are highly variable, but the Internet can be a good place to find
information on the history of medicine. Here are some general sites to get you started.
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U.S. National Library of Medicine:
History of Medicine
Arguably the most authoritative web site out there on the history of medicine.
The site allows you to search through catalogs of the NLM's many collections, including
Books and Journals,
Archives and Manuscripts,
Prints and Photographs,
Films and Videos, and
Digital Collections. Many of
the text materials cataloged by NLM are freely available through the site, as are numerous amazing images.
The site's home page includes special links for first time visitors, scholarly researchers,
and other target audiences.
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Health
Heritage Research Services; Useful Health Heritage Resources- Medical History
This page provides links to image resources, bibliographies, virtual museums, university sites,
journals and mailing lists. There are no descriptions provided.
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"History of Biomedicine" from
the Karolinska Institute
This lengthy list of links provides coverage from ancient to modern times. Some interesting topics
listed: History of Surgery; History of Midwifery; History of Plastic Surgery; Ancient Plastic Surgery; and
Founders of Neurology. The page also has a link you can follow to do an automated search for all
history-related articles in PubMed.
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History of the Health
Sciences World Wide Web Links -- from the "History of the Health Sciences"
Section of the Medical Library Association
A very comprehensive site that provides links to resources on twelve
topics: (1) Organizations in the History of Health Sciences; (2) History
of the Health Sciences Libraries and Archives; (3) History of the Health
Sciences Educational Programs; (4) Organizations and Museums with History
of the Health Sciences Interests; (5) Important Figures in Health Sciences
– Their Lives & Works; (6) Databases; (7) Links Pages; (8) Oaths,
Prayers and Symbols; (9) Bibliographies/Chronologies/Histories; (10)
Listservs; (11) Newsgroups; (12) Journals.
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Institute
of the History of Medicine: The Historical Collection -- Johns Hopkins
University, Department of the History of Science, Medicine and Technology
The links on this page lead to a very rich collection of information about
medical resources (but do note that much of what's here is information such as annotated
bibliographies rather than actual full-text online resources).
The resources here are grouped into three broad categories:
1) Useful Reference Sources,
2) Electronic Resources, and
3)
History of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
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New York University:
Medical Humanities; Literature Arts and Medicine
This site highlights longstanding connections between medicine and the humanities.
The page provides links to relevant art, film and literature resources, as well as other
eclectic information (for example, medicine-and-humanities-related syllabi for courses and
programs at numerous academic institutions).
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Special Collections, Indiana University
Ruth Lilly Medical Library
A large, partially annotated bibliography of both recent and classic works on the history of
American medicine and related health fields.
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Exploring and Collecting History Online (ECHO) -- Medicine/Behavioral Science
ECHO is a project of the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University.
ECHO provides annotated links to hundreds of high-quality sites on various aspects of the
history of medicine.
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University of Toledo Libraries: From Quackery to Bacteriology: The
Emergence of Modern Medicine in 19th Century America
This resource provides links to 12 related essays, each of which contains a short
bibliography. The 12 essay topics include: Scientific Medicine, Home
Health Care, Patient Medicine, Mental Health, Women’s Health Care and
Nursing. Many of the essays include historical illustrations.
Journals
These are not the only serials in which information on various topics
in the history of medicine can be found, but these are sources that are
specifically dedicated to this topic.
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Bibliography of the History of Medicine
Available in Print (click to see LHS-U holdings)
This resource is an index for periodicals covering topics within the
History of Medicine. With the advent of Internet Grateful Med and then
PubMed, it is no longer necessary to have a print version of this
resource. However, this may be a good source for some older
materials.
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Bulletin of the History of Medicine
Available Electronically: Volume 70, 1996 to present
Available in Print (click to see LHS-U holdings)
Replaced: Bulletin of the Institute of the History of
Medicine: v.1(1933) – v.6(1938)
This is the official publication of the American Association for the
History of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Institute of the History of
Medicine. This journal covers topics on both the social and scientific
aspect of the history of medicine. It also provides book reviews and
information about events in the field worldwide.
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Current Work in the History of Medicine
Available in Print (click to see LHS-U holdings)
This is a resource in which citations for works in the history of
medicine on specific topics can be located. Although this resource is no
longer received by the library, it may be a good source for locating
older materials on a topic.
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Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences
Available Electronically: Volume 55, 2000 to present
Available in Print (click to see LHS-U holdings)
This journal’s coverage is broad, publishing the latest original
research on the written beginnings of medicine in all its aspects. Papers
often focus on what practitioners of the healing arts did or taught, and
how their peers and patients received and interpreted their efforts.
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Social History of Medicine
Available in Print (click to see LHS-U holdings)
Published by the Society for the Social History of Medicine, this
journal includes academic articles based on new research as well as review
articles, surveys of recent development in the field, critical assessments
of archives and sources, and book reviews.
Books
This is by no means a complete list of all history-related books available in the Library of
the Health Sciences. Many more books are located in the reference section and the book stacks.
To find additional books not listed in this section please search the
online catalog, or ask for assistance at the
Information Services desk.
Click on the call numbers below for availability information.
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Restoring the balance : women physicians and
the profession of medicine, 1850-1995
By Ellen Singer More
Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1999
WZ80.5 W5M835r 2000
The author shows how women physicians struggled to gain the acceptance
and respect of both their male colleagues and society over the past 150
years. Much of her information was provided through her own interviews and
those from past researchers.
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A Short History of Medicine, 2nd By Charles Singer & E. Ashworth Underwood
New York: Oxford University Press, 1962
WZ40 S617s 1962
This source aims to briefly touch upon the vast information in the
history of medicine. Divided into seven chapters, the book attempts to
reveal the philosophies and practices of medicine during various periods
in history while pointing out important discoveries and advancements.
There is an index of persons and an index of subjects and places at the
end. Also included is a list of reference materials and an appendix of
Nobel Prize winners in Medicine.
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The Story of Medicine
By Roberto Margotta
New York: Golden Press, 1968
WZ40 M329s 1968
According to the foreword, "the purpose of this book is to present
…a picture of the main stages of medicine in its evolution through
the centuries." The seven sections: Primitive Man; Early Civilizations;
The Classical Era; The Dark Ages; The Renaissance; The Seventeenth
Century; The Eighteenth Century; and the Modern Period, contain several
illustrations which help the reader gain an understanding of medicine
during each of the periods.
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Surgery: An Illustrated History
Edited by Ira M. Rutkow
St. Louis: Mosby, 1993
WO11.1 R977s 1993
This interesting reference source takes the reader through the
progressive history of surgery. The book is divided into 12 chapters: (1)
Prescientific and Primitive Surgery; (2) Ancient Civilizations
(Mesopotamians, Jews, Egyptians); (3) The Classical World (Greece,
Alexandria, Rome); (4) The Byzantine Empire; (5) Islamic and Jewish
Surgery; (6) The Far East (India, China and Japan); (7) The Middle Ages;
(8) The Renaissance (Europe); (9) The Seventeenth Century (Europe); (10)
Eighteenth Century (Europe & United States); (11) The Nineteenth
Century (begins to talk about different types of surgeries: blood
transfusions, different methods and training and surgery in the United
States, Europe and Russia); (12) The Twentieth Century. It contains 368
illustrations depicting the surgery of its day, and a fairly extensive
index and bibliography.
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Teaching the History of Medicine at a Medical Center
By Jerome J. Bylebyl
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1982
WZ40 T253 1982
This resource calls itself a "how-to" manual in the teaching
and study of the history of medicine. Its contents are the proceedings
from a 1980 symposium at Johns Hopkins Medical School. Presentations
included: the History of Health and Disease for the Health Professionals;
The History of Medicine in a Medical Context; Pharmaceutical History for
the Pharmacy Student; and Antecedents to Contemporary Health Issues:
History, Politics, and the Policy of Health.
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Time to Heal: American Medical Education from the Turn of the Century to
the Era of Managed Care
By Kenneth M. Ludmerer
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999
W18 L945t 1999
As stated in the preface, this book attempts "to provide a
comprehensive interpretive history of American medical education from the
beginning of the twentieth century through the present," and "to
alert readers to changes the marketplace has exerted on the way doctors
learn and practice medicine in the current era of ‘managed
care’." The book is divided into three parts: (I) Fulfilling the
Social Contract: Medical Education as a Public Trust and the Capture of
the Public Confidence, (II) Medical Education in the Era of the
Multidiversity: The Growth of Research and Service in a Period of
Abundance, (III) Breaking the Social Contract: The Erosion of University
Values, the Decline of Public-Spiritedness, and the Beginning of the
Second Revolution in Medical Education. Within each part are several
chapters. The book includes and extensive index.
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Two Centuries of American Medicine, 1776-1976
Edited by James Bordley & A. McGehee Harvey
Philadelphia: WB Saunders Company, 1976
WZ70 AA1 B729t 1976
This book provides information on the advances in medical education and
the prevention and treatment of disease over the first two centuries of
the United States experience (1776-1976). The book is divided into three
parts. Because most medical advances occurred during the second century,
parts two and three cover that time period, Period of Scientific
Advancement (1876-1946) and Period of Explosive Growth (1946-1976),
respectively. There is a list of references and an index at the end of the
book.
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