medical history – Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

The Social Transformation of American Medicine: The Rise of a Sovereign Profession & the Making of a Vast Industry

By Scott J. Pearson | January 24, 2024January 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

To the casual observer, a quick look at the American healthcare system brings out more questions than insights. Most of the developed world has some form of socialized medicine, whether nationalized health insurance or a national health system. By comparison, the American system appears disorderly and inefficient, yet resisting any changes, some swear by its effectiveness. Why? The answer lies not in a simple social, political, or economic force but in the scope of history.…

The Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine

By Scott J. Pearson | September 12, 2021September 12, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

There exist few ways to understand something better than understanding its history. Nuanced details make more sense when attached to the historical narrative. Such is certainly the case in medicine, the universal human struggle against death. This book, an edited collection of histories of various aspects of medicine, offers these explanations with clarity and erudition. It offers hard science commingled with human insight – a coupling appropriate for the task of healing. Students of medicine…

Healthcare History

Review: The Emperor of All Maladies

By Scott J. Pearson | July 7, 2019July 7, 2019 by Scott J. Pearson

This highly acclaimed work (winning a Pulitzer Prize) deserves every one of its adulations. It is not only personal, erudite, and interesting; it is also inspiring and well-written. Mukherjee attempts to present “a biography of cancer,” starting from its first mention in the historical record (a Queen of Persia). A practicing oncologist, he also ties in patient stories to advance the narrative in appropriate places. Generally, he tells the tale of how humanity and science…