The Oxford Handbook of American Medical History

The Oxford Handbook of American Medical History examines the social, political, and economic history of medicine as it has been practiced in the United States from the colonial period to the present day. The volume consists of original chapters, written by thirty-nine scholars, that explain the causes and effects of major changes in American medicine and the larger historical context in which American medicine has developed. The Handbook provides both a composite overview for readers new to the history of American medicine, as well as robust historiographical analysis for scholars preparing undergraduate lectures, teaching graduate seminars, and conducting background research. There are four sections: the first analyzes how patterns of life and death have changed over time and the factors that influence morbidity, mortality, and health disparities; the second assesses the ever-changing medical marketplace, how health care has been monetized, and the effects of the business of medicine on medical careers and patient care; the third evaluates the establishment of medical institutions and the ways in which institutions reinforce pre-existing power structures in American society; and the fourth section studies how medical knowledge is created and whose interests are served by medical research. Chapters include recommendations for further reading to guide readers interested in learning more about topics covered.

PART I. LIFE AND DEATHChapter 1. Life and Death in the English Colonies, 1585-1776, Thomas J. HumphreyChapter 2. The Politics of Epidemics and Public Health, 1721-1800, Simon FingerChapter 3. Public Health Challenges: Urban Growth, Industrialization, and Sanitation in the Nineteenth Century, Melanie A. KiechleChapter 4. The Mortality Transition, 1850-1930, Gretchen CondranChapter 5. Environmental Health, Frederick Rowe DavisChapter 6 The Politics of Health Care Disparities, 1965-Present, Richard M. Mizelle , Jr.Chapter 7. The Return of Infectious and Contagious Disease, 1981-Present, Powel KazanjianPART II. THE MEDICAL MARKETPLACEChapter 8. The Medical Marketplace in Colonial America, Mark A. GoldbergChapter 9. Medical Heterodoxy and the Market Revolution of the Nineteenth Century, David G. SchusterChapter 10 The Professionalization of American Physicians, Revisited, James A. Schafer , Jr.Chapter 11. The Rise of Health Insurance, 1910s-1960s, Jonathan EngelChapter 12. Navigating Post-World War II Health Care: Health Professionals Other Than Physicians, Julie A. FairmanChapter 13. Specialization and Technology in the Twentieth Century, Joel D. HowellChapter 14. Health Care Activism in the 1960s and 1970s, Wendy KlineChapter 15. Jim Crow Medicine and the Elusive Pursuit of Universal Health Care, David Barton SmithChapter 16. Health Care, Inc., 1973-Present, Gregory B. Kruse, Lawton R. Burns, and Ralph W. MullerPART III. INSTITUTIONS AND POWERChapter 17. Slavery and Medicine, Elise A. MitchellChapter 18. American Medical Ethics and Jurisprudence, 1665-1957, Robert BakerChapter 19. The Modern Hospital and Consumerism, H. K. Quinn ValierChapter 20. Promise, Peril, and the Contested History of Defending America's Borders from Disease and Destitution, Caitlin E. McMahon and Amy L. FairchildChapter 21. Health and Modern Warfare: The Civil War through the Early Cold War, Jessica L. AdlerChapter 22. The Pharmaceutical Industry and Drug Regulation, 1906-1997, Jay Stone and Keith WailooChapter 23. The Health Effects of Segregation in the United States, 1880-1950, Samuel Kelton RobertsChapter 24. Biomedical Research Ethics from Tuskegee to Institutional Review Boards, Jason E. GlennChapter 25. Immigration and Health Care, 1924-Present, Natalie LiraPART IV. KNOWLEDGE AND BODIESChapter 26. The Scientific Construction of Race in Early America, Christopher D. E. WilloughbyChapter 27. Science, Research, and Therapeutic Change: Chloroform and the American Civil War, Shauna DevineChapter 28. Gender Boundaries in Nineteenth-Century Medicine, Rebecca J. TannenbaumChapter 29. Germ Theories and the Laboratory Revolution, Helen BynumChapter 30. Eugenics, 1883-Present, Michael YudellChapter 31. Controlled Clinical Trials and Evidence-Based Medicine, Laura E. Bothwell and Scott H. PodolskyChapter 32. Medicalization and the Making of the Modern Patient, Nancy TomesChapter 33. Gender and Sexuality in Biomedical Research and Clinical Practice, 1948-Present, Sandra EderChapter 34. The Resurgence of Racial Science from the Bell Curve to BiDil, Dorothy E. Roberts