The Cincinnati Obstetrical and Gynecological Society 1876-1976

Abstract

Those who keep records may not appreciate their value, but a good set of records can pay enormous dividends for historians. This is splendidly shown in a small but significant volume describing the centennial of the Cincinnati Obstetrical and Gynecological Society. The author made skillful use of an almost unbroken set of minutes, extending for a hundred years, with information pieced out from published sources. The record, as he analyzed it, shows the microcosm of medical practice. It indicates personalities, professional conflicts, and jealousies; pictures the struggle toward stricter professionalization and increased standards of competence; describes professional, social, and socioeconomic viewpoints and details. We can glimpse the changing status of medicine and the progress in medical science as it affected the specialty of obstetrics and gynecology. However, as we come closer to the present day, we see the same old problems reemerging in modern dress, and we realize that the