Chapter 1: Medicine in A Democratic Culture (1760 - 1850)

a. I learned several things which surprised me. I was surprised by John C. Gunn's comment that Latin names for medical terminology were "originally made use of to astonish the people." I found this idea interesting, and in keeping with the last sentence of the chapter, which explains that "the democratic interregnum of the nineteenth century was a period of transition, when the traditional forms of mystification had broken down and the modern fortress of objectivity had not yet been built." John C. Gunn and other practitioners of the time, such as William Buchan, advocated to make medicine less "mystical," and more accessible to the public. Using common names, rather than Latin, which most people did not speak, would help to accomplish this by making medicine easier to understand by lay people.

b. The author states that "A profession, by its nature, is an inegalitarian institution; it claims to enjoy a dignity not shared by ordinary occupations and a right to set its own rules and standards." I agree with the author's statement that professions are inegalitarian. People who are less privileged may not have access to education. Professions require education and specialized training, separating professionals from those who don't have access to the same opportunities.

c. I don't agree with Gunn's statement that using Latin names for diseases and medicines were meant to contribute to confusion and fraud. For example, Latin has been considered a universal language in the Western world. The Latin word for an herb is the same among physicians who speak different languages and live in different parts of the world. Latin is also the mother language for all of the Romance languages, including English. Therefore, physicians in England would have used Latin. Doctors in colonial America used the social structure of medicine in eighteenth-century England as a model; early physicians in the U.S. were likely simply copying what physicians in England did, out of practicality due to its establishment as a common language.

d. One thing I have read which applies to an experience I have had with an aspect of the healthcare system is that "much treatment of the sick takes place outside of the doctor's sphere in the home or under alternative practitioners." This is still true, as most people will self-diagnose and self-treat a wide range of illnesses, such as colds, flu, stomach viruses, and cuts. Most illnesses do not require a visit to the doctor, and even when they do, most of the treatment, such as rest, and taking medication, takes place at home. Only more serious illnesses require stays in a hospital or observation of a physician.

e. I expect that the information in the Starr book will influence my view on how physicians and medical schools operate today. It provided me the opportunity to learn how the medical education and physician licensing practicing existed before its current state. I had never thought of medical education and practice as evolving in the way described by Starr in Chapter 1. Because of this knowledge, I have come to think of our current system as also in development, and have started thinking about ways in which it too, may develop.