The History of Medical Education

Abstract

Eighty years have passed since a global history of medical education was encompassed in a single volume. That book by Theodor Puschmann served long and well, but medical education has not escaped the radical change of medicine in general during the past several decades. A new account was needed, and<i>The History of Medical Education</i>, edited by the late C. D. O'Malley, fills the void so well it may discourage any similar venture for the next eight decades. O'Malley's effort grew out of a 1968 International Symposium sponsored by UCLA. Nineteen contributors give this book a remarkable geographic sweep, including areas ignored by Puschmann such as Southeast Asia, Japan, and Latin America. Particularly welcome to us chauvinists was John Field's excellent coverage (and bibliography) of American medical education from the Civil War down to day before yesterday. Most readers are all too aware of the usual defects in a book