The Fielding H. Garrison Lecture: Great Doctor History:

Abstract

For decades, physicians wrote much of the history of medicine, often "great man" histories that celebrated their colleagues' accomplishments as part of a celebratory historical narrative. Beginning in the 1970s, social historians challenged this type of scholarship, arguing that it was Whiggish, omitted the flaws of the medical profession, left patients out of the story, and ignored issues of gender, race, and class. This Garrison Lecture revisits this history through the prism of my recent book, The Good Doctor: A Father, a Son, and the Evolution of Medical Ethics, which is essentially a biography of my physician father, Phillip Lerner, and an autobiography. In the talk I ask whether there is true historical value to biography or whether it should serve only as an adjunct to "real" social history. I also historicize my own career, something I chose not to do in the book.

Emily Blackwell’s Medical School Betrayal: “Duplicity and Double Dealing Somewhere”

“…Emily Blackwell's unfortunate medical student experience is worth a another look because it allows us to re-examine the choices of several wellknown actors and consider how their actions were affected by and then influenced larger social currents. 15 Much of Emily Blackwell's medical student story comes from her personal journal, with colorful Victorian Era insights, sometimes obtuse references to external events, and a sense that she, like her sister, was writing for history. Assessing her accounts 170 years later is precarious business; however, other sources, which have not been adequately explored, also touched on her experience.…”

“…Emily Blackwell's unfortunate medical student experience is worth a another look because it allows us to re-examine the choices of several well-known actors and consider how their actions were affected by and then influenced larger social currents. 15…”