What major discoveries made modern medicine possible? Who were the fascinating individuals responsible for these discoveries? What qualities prepared each of them for their unique roles in medical history? Discover the answers in Doctors: The History of Scientific Medicine Revealed. Here
Doctors: The History of Scientific Medicine Revealed through Biography
Get a fascinating and insightful history of medicine from a renowned surgeon and professor at Yale School of Medicine.
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Tobytail from
Fascinating
Really interesting course narrated by a cosumate story teller which conveyed the subjects in a Really engaging way. While learning we were entertained which made the subjects even more memorable
Date published: 2024-05-12
Rated 5 out of
5
by
24ONR from
Delightful series
A delightful, short series of biographical sketches that reveal the evolution of medicine from Antiquity to the 20th century. Prof. Nuland is a superb lecturer, always clear, well structured with amusing anecdotes.
Date published: 2023-09-14
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Novice Artist from
Great Course.
This the one of their VERY BEST courses. We all loved and enjoyed it. Thanks.
Date published: 2022-10-27
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Jeaner from
Intellectually stimulating.
Great presenter (teacher/surgeon). Interesting angle to approach medicine through the lens of great doctors.
Date published: 2022-10-26
Rated 1 out of
5
by
BRC1 from
Beware
Does not have streaming video. Would not have purchased if I had known.
Date published: 2022-02-15
Rated 5 out of
5
by
gillianerin from
A great review of medicine's major innovations
Rather than being an extensive review of the history of medicine, this course is a brief but entertaining overview of some of the biggest steps forward in modern Western medicine and the people who made them happen. The lecturer is a wonderful, engaging speaker who held my attention through every lecture. The course shows how one innovation or change in thinking led to the next, and how the pace of innovation rapidly increased through time.
There aren't many women or people of color represented but, sadly, that's the history of western medicine. Since 11/12 lectures are about events before 1900, this wasn't entirely surprising - but I would happily have listened to another 12 lectures to get more diversity!
Date published: 2021-11-05
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Canadian from
The People Who Brought Us Modern Medicine
I wish there had been more than just twelve of these wonderful lectures. The subject matter is so interesting, and the presentation so engaging that I consider this course one of the finest of the nearly 100 I have purchased from The Teaching Company. Dr. Nuland speaks with the credibility of a well-prepared teacher plus the flair of an entertaining raconteur. Turning points in medical history are studied here through the biographies of key individuals whose theories, research, and medical practice shaped and furthered doctoring during the past twenty-six centuries. The focus is primarily on Western medicine, though references are also included to Asian medicine, to alternative medicine, to how historical events and religion have influenced doctoring, etc. The biographies of the featured doctors reveal many laudable accomplishments; but I also appreciate that Professor Nuland does not shy away from telling us about occasions when even famous innovators turned out to be wrong-headed in their assumptions or fallible in their behaviours. As with other sciences, progress in medicine has not been exclusively led by the unerring. I highly recommend this Great Course; it is a gem that ought not to be missed.
Date published: 2020-06-28
Rated 2 out of
5
by
avoirdupois from
Sorry, didn't work for me, cannot recommend.
These 12 lectures were mildly interesting, full of anecdotes, reminded me of the very old radio show "Art Baker's Note Book". I found the professor's droning style quite flat, bland, dry ~ that didn't help. And I dearly wanted to enjoy this series.
No, for me it was fair only.
Date published: 2019-10-14
Overview
About
Dr. Sherwin B. Nuland (1930-2014) was Clinical Professor of Surgery at the Yale School of Medicine and Fellow of the university's Institution for Social and Policy Studies. He served on the executive committees of Yale's Whitney Humanities Center and its Interdisciplinary Bioethics Project. Professor Nuland was a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science, New York University, and the Yale School of Medicine, from which he earned his M.D. After training in surgery at the Yale-New Haven Hospital, he practiced and taught there for three decades. He considered the bedside and operative care of over 10,000 patients to be the most rewarding work of his career. He taught bioethics and medical history to undergraduates and medical students. Dr. Nuland is the author of eight books, including Doctors: The Biography of Medicine and The Wisdom of the Body. He is also the author of How We Die, a reflection on the modern way of death, which was on the New York Times best-seller list for 34 weeks. This book won the National Book Award and was a finalist for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize and the Book Critics Circle Award. Dr. Nuland has written dozens of articles for magazines and periodicals, including The New Yorker, Time, Life, National Geographic, Discover, The New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times.
01: Hippocrates and the Origins of Western Medicine
Hippocrates's name is given to a new form of healing, setting aside superstition and religion in favor of keen observation, medical ethics, recording, and teaching.
34 min
02: The Paradox of Galen
Galen based his career on the idea that understanding disease required understanding the body. His influence was so overwhelming it took 1,400 years before his errors in that understanding began to surface.
32 min
03: Vesalius and the Renaissance of Medicine
An extraordinary volume by a Flemish medical student clarifies the understanding of anatomy of function in ways never imagined before.
32 min
04: Harvey, Discoverer of the Circulation
Harvey's 1628 description of the heart's function and the continuous circulation of the body's blood supply is generally considered the greatest contribution ever made to the art of healing.
31 min
05: Morgagni and the Anatomy of Disease
The Hippocratic thesis that illness originates in an entire person inhibits research, until the work of one man shows that virtually every symptom arises from a specific pathology in a particular structure.
30 min
06: Hunter, the Surgeon as Scientist
At a time when surgeons merely amputated, lanced, and bled at the behest of physicians, John Hunter introduces the notion that they can also be researchers, and brings science into surgery.
31 min
07: Laennec and the Invention of the Stethoscope
Driven by his own embarrassment with the necessities of diagnostic procedure, an intensely shy doctor makes a dramatic advance.
31 min
08: Morton and the Origins of Anesthesia
In the 1840s, nitrous oxide, ether, and chloroform are discovered to have anesthetic properties. The great surge in the possibilities for treatment is accompanied by acrimonious debate among those claiming the credit.
29 min
09: Virchow and the Cellular Origins of Disease
Following the discovery of cells, a German pathologist introduces the concept that disease is caused by pathological change in a previously normal cell. His 1858 book becomes the bible of the new medicine.
30 min
10: Lister and the Germ Theory
An indomitable Quaker physician persists over two decades in his efforts to convince physicians of the causes of postsurgical mortal infection and how to prevent it, revolutionizing medical thinking.
30 min
11: Halsted and American Medical Education
A brilliant young surgeon develops a new paradigm of operating room procedure, transforming surgery and contributing to a new medical school's ascendancy as the model on which all others in the United States would be based.
31 min
12: Taussig and the Development of Cardiac Surgery
The Johns Hopkins Medical School is founded on the principle that women must be admitted on the same basis as men. One of its greatest female graduates helps establish the new field of pediatric cardiology.
30 min
