Queen of the Professions : The Rise and Decline of Medical Prestige and Power in America

American medicine is under serious attack. The health care system is falling short of its major goal, improving the health of the population. The United States ranks only 35th in world life expectancy. But where American medicine arguably remains at a pinnacle in the world – in the status, wealth and power of the profession of medicine -- physicians are in danger of losing first rank. As other professions close the gap, their top economic position is threatened. Slippage may be measured also by other, less quantifiable factors, such as the highest prestige of physicians among all learned occupations. Queen of the Professions: The Rise and Decline of Medical Prestige and Power in America is a colorful yet authoritative work of social history offering readers a sturdy platform from which to confront looming issues about the future of American medical care. Its unique perspective brings crucial context to current debates about modern medicine, exploring in entertaining detail its historical foundations and its present and future challenges. Acknowledgments and Preface Introduction: What Makes a Profession a Profession? Part I: From Healing Art to Scientific Profession: Medicine 500 B.C.E. to 1850 C.E. 1: Swearing by Apollo 2: The Levant: Saving Grace of the Middle Ages 3: Physicians, Barbers and “Old Wives” 4: Hospitals or Hospices? 5: Gifts from the Sister Sciences Part II:The Making of a Doctor: The Evolution of Medical Education 6: Acolytes and Apprentices 7: Starting with Salerno: Europe’s First Medical Schools 8: From Sacrilege to Science: Dissection and Observation 9: Three Paths Leading to Modern Medical Education 10: Money Talks: Abraham Flexner’s Reforms 11: High Tech, Low Touch? Part III: Changing Concepts of Medical Ethics: When Values Collide 12: A Sacred Trust: Roots of MedicalEthics 13: First, Do No Harm: The Introduction of Humanistic Values 14: The Physician as Gentle-man 15: Balancing Individual and Public Benefit: Experimental Abuses 16: Gods No More: The Rise of Patients’ Rights 17: Collisions of Cultures Part IV: The Future of Medicine as a Profession: From Hippocrates to Dr. House 18: Cures, at Last! 19: The Conundrum of Insurance: Raising Income, Threatening Autonomy 20: Expanding Access to the Physician’s Role 21: What It All Means Bibliography Index "Only in the latter part of the nineteenth century did medicine achieve the full eight characteristics of a modern profession. And yet, so quickly, it has seen one ... autonomy ... erode significantly and is beginning to experience the crumbling of another: monopoly of the market of services. Can social prestige and economic rewards be far behind?" ... Provided by publisher