SECTION OF MEDICAL HISTORY IN THE BRITISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (Victorian Branch).

University of Melbourne Symposium on Medical History 21–23 May, 1970

A symposium will be held in the Department of Medical History, University of Melbourne, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, the 21, 22 and 23 May, 1970 and a cordial invitation is extended to those wishing to attend. Professor Donald O'Malley, Department of Medical History, University of California, Los Angeles, has accepted an invitation to be present and give a paper. One day has been set aside...

Unsuitable cases: the debate over outpatient admissions, the medical profession and late-Victorian London Hospitals.

In 1836 a meeting of the nascent British Medical Association (BMA) expressed concern over the "vast amount of gratuitous medical assistance" offered by London's voluntary hospitals.' Seventeen years later, the British Medical Journal printed Edward Crossman's presidential address to the Bath and Bristol branch of the BMA, which highlighted the issue as one of professional concern.2 In the inter...

The start of life: a history of obstetrics.

Obstetric intervention originally consisted of extraction of the baby, usually by the breech, to save the mother's life in obstructed labour. Forceps, introduced in the 17th century, were later refined by men-midwives like William Smellie. In Victorian times, Simpson championed chloroform anaesthesia, Lister pioneered antisepsis, and caesarean section was introduced. In 1935, however, Britain's...

British Romantic Generalism in the Age of Specialism, 1870-1990.

This essay explores the impact of 'generalism' and 'general practice' on the specialisation of British medicine using the case of neurology in Britain to reveal characteristics of British 'generalist medical culture' from 1870 to 1990. It argues that 'generalism' represented a particular epistemological position in Victorian medicine, one that then created a natural bridge between science and m...

Early History of the Bristol Royal Infirmary 1Presidential Address read at the annual meeting of the Bath and Bristol Branch of the British Medical Association, May 27th, 1908.