MEDICAL CARE: change+continuity

• Apothecaries


  Mixed remedies
• Surgeons


  Carried out simple operations
• Apothecaries and surgeons in c1250-c1500

  • Organised into guild systems
  • Men would carry out an apprenticeship
  • Spend several years practising as a journeyman under the supervision of a master
  • Before becoming a master surgeon or apothecary themselves
• Journeyman


  An experienced member of a profession who was not yet experienced enough to have his own business
• Journeymen usually worked for a master until they had enough expertise to start their own business
• Medical education c1500-c1700


  • Increased considerably
  • New technology and wounds on the battlefield meant more surgery was necessary
  • Introduction of iatrochemistry introduced new ingredients into the stores of apothecaries
  • Surgeons and apothecaries had to possess licences to practice
• Surgeons and apothecaries continued to provide services to those unable to afford physicians
• Physician training c1500-c1700


  • Training courses changed very little
  • New ideas were slow to take effect
  • Learning was still from books and not from practical experience
  • Lectures were dictated in Latin
• As new ideas about human anatomy and iatrochemistry started to be shared, doctors were inspired to challenge the old teachings and investigate for themselves
• The Hippocratic focus on observation became more popular in the 17th century
• Dissection, which had once been banned by the Church, was legalised due to the decline in the power of the Church, but it was still very difficult to get a supply of fresh corpses to dissect
• Very few universities had an anatomy theatre, because most of them didn't think it was necessary to train a physician in anatomy
• Trainee doctors had much better access to medical textbooks and there were a wider variety of these books than ever before
• The newly-invented printing press made books easier to find and a lot cheaper
• Protestantism rejected highly-decorated churches, so many artists found themselves with hours to spare and in need of work, which meant that they were available to create detailed drawings for the new medical textbooks
• For medical students who couldn't afford a whole book, individual copies of pictures were available, known as fugitive sheets