The structure of mental health medicine I outlined last time is a late twentieth century innovation. Until the mid-nineteenth century it is probably better to talk, not of a stratified medical profession based on a clear division of training, expertise, labour, and association, but of a complex hierarchy or pyramid of medical practice based on status and function. This podcast sets out the many kinds of practitioners of medicine that existed and their widely differing claims to expertise. It concludes by exploring the distinctive relationship between patients and practitioners, which existed in the past.
Image of the week: phlebotomy (blood-letting), 17th century
Full Bibliographic Record: Wellcome Library Catalogue L0041074
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