Divide and Conquer A Comparative History of Medical Specialization [Hardcover]

This wide-ranging book is the first to examine one of the most significant and characteristic features of modern medicine - specialization - in historical and comparative context. Based on research in three languages, it traces the origins of modern medical specialization to 1830s Paris and examines its spread to Germany, Britain, and the US, showing how it evolved from an outgrowth of academic teaching and research in the 19th century into the dominant mode of medical practice by the middle of the 20th. Taking account of the parallels and differences in national developments, the book shows the international links among the nations' medical systems as well as the independent influences of local political and social conditions in the move toward specialization. An epilogue takes the story up to the twenty-first century, where problems of specialization merge into the larger crisis of health care which affects most western nations today.

Part I: The Emergence of Medical Specialization in the Nineteenth Century
Chapter 1: The Rise of Specialties in Early-Nineteenth-Century-Paris
Chapter 2: Medical Specialization in London: A Reverse Mirror Image
Chapter 3: Specialization in the German-Speaking World
Chapter 4: The Rise of American Specialties
Part II: Domesticating Specialist Practice, 1890-1950
Chapter 5: Regulating Specialists in National Medical Directories
Chapter 6: Regulating Specialists in Germany
Chapter 7: Regulating Specialists the American Way
Chapter 8: The French Style of Regulating Specialists
Chapter 9: Regulating Specialists in the British Manner
Chapter 10: Medical Specialties in Comparative Perspective
Epilogue: Medical Specialization in Second Half of the Twentieth Century

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