The Evolution Of The Profession Of Medical Men In Early Modern England

The medical profession is a major occupation in social division of labor, because it is closely related to human health and life, Therefore, it has special status. The text is based on three aspects of the inspection, the medical team, the organization and management of medical men, and the medical profession status, searching for the evolution on the profession of medical men. It analyzes the achievements and shortcomings in the evolution on the profession of medical men from traditional profession to a modern profession as well as its historic status in the course of social development.The preface states the emergence and development of the profession of medical men before the early modern time first, and then compares the similarities and differences between traditional and modern profession.The first chapter outlines the medical team, which was consisted of two parts: regular medical men and irregular practitioners. The regular medical men included physician, surgeon and apothecary. In the 15-16th century, these three kind medical men held in a pyramidal professional hierarchy. In the 17-18th century, the general practitioner came into being. A profession organization pattern had been developed at the end of the 18th century, which was similar to modern medical profession, consisting specialist and general practitioner. Irregular practitioners consisted of two parts, amateurish practitioner and full-time practitioners. Full-time irregular practitioners included midwives, mountebank and empirics. The English government and regular medical men had concentrated efforts on forbidding irregular practicing, they also had got certain accomplishment, but not been able to get a complete success in entire early modern times.English medical education showed the development trend of integrating between theory and practice in early modern times. Practicality course had been put into universities' pure theory education, and the clinical teaching system gradually formed. Apprenticeship training on surgeons and apothecaries replenished theoretical knowledge in universities, hospital medical college and private medical college. The improvement on medical education on scale and quality had led to the appearance of regular medical men with great number and high quality. It also improved the structure of the medical team and made great progress in the medical profession order by debarring the irregular practitioners.The second chapter explains the organization and management of medical men. In early modern England, the basic management mode of the profession of medical men was self-management of professional organizations, not the management of government regulatory bodies. The Royal College of Physicians, the Royal College of Surgeons and the Society of Apothecaries administered medical men in London, affected the profession of medical men in the whole nation. There were some local guilds outside London, local governments and churches had powers of intervention. However, medical profession at that time often at the situation of allowing unrestrained freedom.In early modern England, the primary management approach of the profession medical men was the medical qualifying examination system. The development process of medical qualifying examination was divided into four stages, before it became the registration system for English qualified doctor. The medical qualifying examination was gradually institutionalized and standardized. With the establishment of medical qualifying examination of surgeon and apothecary, the general practitioner increased rapidly. The expansion of the regular medical team made the market of irregular practitioners be squeezed. Irregular practitioners were absorbed in the team of regular doctors day by day, improved the professional level of medical men.The third chapter discusses of the professional status of medical men. Professional status includes two aspects: internal hierarchy and social status. In the 17-18th century, the pyramidal professional hierarchy of physician, surgeon and apothecary gradually disintegrated. Technical level became the professional hierarchy partitional standard instead of the type of education, and the professional form of modern medical profession emerged. The change of professional hierarchy originated from the elevation of surgeon and apothecary professional statues, who became medical men from average craftsman, or became general practitioner from physician's assistant.At the end of the 18th century, medical men enjoy more wealth, higher social status compared with their 15th century predecessors. Their medical treatment means gets rid of empty talk and the superstition component gradually, too. Medical forged ahead to science in its real meaning. However, the progressing medical science and profession of medical men were not able to satisfy society's request before the 19th centuries. So that, medical men one aspect was society's outstanding person, intermediate stratum in rising, another one aspect was the target of public opinion attacks. This medical men's illogical social status reflected both the importance of medical profession and the limitation of professional development in early modern times.Early modern times is an important period in the changing process of medical profession from traditional to modern, many characteristic of modern profession had appeared already, but not developed maturity. The medical profession changed in the collision between the new and old things, it showed transformable and complexity characteristics, like a miniature of society transforms. The modern medical profession gestated in the traditional profession of medical men in early modern England, and the development of the profession of medical men laid the foundation of modern medical profession.