This course will explore the social history of medicine since the mid-eighteenth century, with some consideration of its British and American dimensions, but giving particular attention to the Australian experience. It will investigate such topics as: perceptions of health, disease and the sick; orthodoxy and unorthodoxy; the impact of medical innovations; the growth and metamorphosis of the charity hospital; the role of the patient; the rise of female nursing; the professionalisation of medicine; its relationships with other health professions and with the state; issues of medicine and gender; the role of doctors in public health and the wider community; and professional and public responses to epidemics.

A research essay of 3,000 words (50%), tutorial participation (10%), and either a synoptic essay of 2,000 words or a final examination (40%).

First-year courses in History to the value of twelve units or with permission of the Convener.

Smith, F.B., The People's Health 1830-1910, ANU Press, 1979.
Willis, E, Medical Dominance: the division of labour in Australian health care, Allen & Unwin, 1989 2nd edn.