The Cape Doctor is a social history of medicine, which places formal Western medicine within its political, social and economic context. The work shows the way in which the Cape medical profession excluded all but a few women and black practitioners, and discriminated along lines of race, class and gender in their practice. It revises traditional whiggish and linear accounts of professional advancement, but it also moves beyond the classic revisionist tradition, which documents the emergence of a society divided along lines of race and gender, by providing examples of cultural crossover and medical pluralism. It also provides a perspective on a broad historical process within which to understand present debates about the most appropriate health policies in South Africa today.
Harriet Deacon (PhD Cantab.), Elizabeth van Heyningen (PhD UCT) and Howard Phillips (PhD UCT) are social historians of medicine working in Cape Town, the first two as independent scholars and the latter as an associate professor in the Department of Historical Studies at University of Cape Town (UCT).
âThis collection provides a wide-ranging, sophisticated, and well-crafted overview of the development of the South African doctor.â
- in: Bulletin of the History of Medicine, Vol. 80, 2006
ââ¦a book rich in interest, well written and edited. It provides important insightsâ¦â
- in: The Canadian Bulletin of Medical History, Vol. 22, No. 2, 2005
ââ¦an enjoyable read, evenly written and edited. The narrative flows smoothly, and the smaller arguments and case studies are concise, detailed, and always linked to the overall themes of the book.â
- in: Wellcome History, Issue 30, Autumn 2005
âThe collection not only offers a glimpse into some of the conditions that led to South Africaâs current medical system, but also establishes a foundation for future research.â in: ââ¦well researchedâ¦â
â Tiffany F. Jones, Kingston, Ont., in: H-Safrica, March, 2005
ââ¦this long-awaited and excellent addition [â¦] blows away many of the traditional, whiggish historical accounts of medical professionalization whilst clarifying our understanding of the evolution of health policies and practices [â¦] a valuable text for medical, social, and political historians.â - in: The Social History of Medicine, Vol. 18, No. 3, 2005
"The Cape Doctor is well researched and provides a wealth of data on a large variety of medical-historical topics, inter alia, the origins of the Somerset and other early hospitals, medical associations, the South African Medical Journal, and Cape medical education. The authors are to be commended on a project well done."
â Professor Dan J. Ncayiyana, Editor, South African Medical Journal, and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, University of Cape Town
List of Illustrations
List of Tables
List of Figures
Foreword
Note on Contributors
Acknowledgements
Note on Terminology
Abbreviations
1 Harriet DEACON: Introduction: The Cape Doctor in the Nineteenth Century
2 Harriet DEACON: The Cape Doctor and the Broader Medical Market, 1800-1850
3 Harriet DEACON: Medical Gentlemen and the Process of Professionalisation before 1860
4 Howard PHILLIPS: Home Taught for Abroad: The Training of the Cape Doctor, 1807-1910
5 Harriet DEACON and Elizabeth van HEYNINGEN: Opportunities Outside Private Practice before 1860
6 Elizabeth van HEYNINGEN: Medical Practice in the Eastern Cape
7 Elizabeth van HEYNINGEN: âRegularly Licensed and Properly Educated Practitionersâ Professionalisation 1860-1910
8 Harriet DEACON, Elizabeth van HEYNINGEN, Sally SWARTZ and Felicity SWANSON: Mineral Wealth and Medical Opportunity
9 Anne DIGBY: Making a Medical Living: The Economics of Medical Practice in the Cape c. 1860-1910
10 Howard PHILLIPS: The Cape Doctor 1807-1910: Perspectives