The Demise of the Preacher Physician
The advance of medicine during the colonial period of
America was highly influenced by England and other countries of Europe.
Before any advances in medicine, colonies in America didn’t consist of any
professional physicians or doctors. There was simply no opportunity
for a professional private practice in the harsh labor and living conditions
of colonial America. A highly recognized fact of the colonial period
was the connection of illnesses and disease with tests and punishments of
God. Therefore it was only natural that the preacher took on the role
of the medical practitioner although the treatments of illness were usually
attempted to be cured by spiritual healing rather than physical treatment.
There wasn’t a great success rate, and illnesses were left to take their
natural course because the illnesses were thought to be sent from God.
In the mid to late 1700's, trained medical practitioners came to America
and contemporary theories of medicine were absorbed from medical circles
in England resulting in the demise of the preacher physician.
Inoculation, which was supported by preacher physicians,
was consequently one of the important factors that diminished the conjunction
of preacher physician and resulted in an advanced field of medicine.
Boston was infested with smallpox with no relief from the virus. Two
front men, Zabdiel Boylsten and Reverend Cotton Mather supported inoculation.
Boylston performed the operations which were quite simple, and Cotton Mather
(a famous preacher and voice of colonial America) spoke out for it.
We see the opponents of the inoculations to be well trained European physicians
and Boston authorities. One french physician, Dr. Lawrence Dalhonde, gave
an account of only “evil consequenses” that resulted from inoculations performed
in Italy, Spain, and Flanders (Miller 478). One prominent lay physician
of colonial America, William Douglas, who received his medical degree from
the University of Edinburgh spoke out against inoculation mainly because
he opposed Cotton Mather and his preacher physicians of colonial America
(Le Beau 3). If William Douglas would have supported inoculation, he
would have seen the preacher physician diminish as a result of medical advancement.
In London, during the period of the Boston smallpox epidemic, an experiment
was successfully completed on the Newgate prisoners who were inoculated and
their immunity tested (Miller 479). Most of England’s physicians were
convinced of the inoculation’s success and the Smallpox and Inoculation Hospital
in London was founded in 1746. This proved England’s advancement in
medicine was superior than colonial America’s and the separation of preacher
and physician
was established. Colonial America followed when forming the “Society
for Inoculating the Poor Gratis,” this was to provide inoculations for people
who couldn’t afford it (Deutsch 574). This society was eventually stopped,
but the adaption of England’s advances are apparent in colonial America.
After England approved inoculation and setup hospitals, only then did we
follow their footsteps and organize a society to perform the same duties.
Many physicians were trained in England and other parts
of Europe before they came to America. This movement of doctors to
America represents the direct influence of contemporary medicine from England
being channeled into practice among the primitive kitchen remedies and spiritual
healing of the preacher physician. These London trained doctors migrated
into America after it was stabilized and there was an opportunity for professional
practices, rather than the harsh conditions as described with early colonial
America. William Shippen Jr. was one of the first London trained doctors
in America. He grew up in Philadelphia attending Nottingham Academy
and the College of New Jersey. He then went to England graduating from
the University of Edinburgh in 1761, he moved promptly to Philadelphia where
he started a practice in obstetrics (cope 427). William was a well
respected London trained physician who was later given the opportunity to
teach anatomy and obstetrics in the Philadelphia Hospital. The medical
training William received at Edinburgh was crucial to his success in America.
This was because doctors from England who carried college degrees were regarded
highly in colonial America. A colleague of William Shippen Jr. was
John Morgan who also attended Nottingham Academy and the College of New Jersey,
he also went to Edinburgh two years after William in 1763 (Cope 341).
Morgan became a professor for the theory and practice of physik at the Pennsylvania
Hospital (Cope 341). These professional doctors replaced the preacher
physician because of their higher knowledge of the human body and their high
success rates. For example the death rate for performing lithotomies
was 50%, while Dr. William Cheselden improved the success rate to about 6%
(Franchetti 469). These advances could not be kept up with by preacher
physicians. Another example of the training of Americans in London
to become professional medical physicians was that of Dr. William Pasteur.
Dr. Pasteur was one of the first colonial apothecaries. He studied
in America under Dr. George Gilmer but then left to train at St. Thomas’s
hospital in London for a year (Almanak 1). This proves the importance
of London to the success of doctors in America. A colleague of Dr.
Pasteur was Dr. John Minson Galt who attended the College of William and
Mary and studied at St. Thomas’s Hospital (Almanak 1). Dr. Pasteur
and Dr. Galt both escaped to London to get the best education and reputation
in America. They succeeded in apothecary because of their training,
the same training that resulted in the demise of the preacher physician.
We can find the theme of advanced medicine being led by England resulting
in the ultimate extinction of the preacher physician in Philadelphia.
Cope states that pupils studying under practitioners at the Philadelphia
hospital were strongly urged to study in Europe, and those that did, “brought
medical degrees from famous schools, personal acquaintances with Europe’s
leading medical men, and a firsthand knowledge of contemporary medicine (340).
This captivates the important role of England and Europe in medical advancement,
and their influence on American doctors during the colonial period.
Pennsylvania Hospital, established in 1751, became the
first general hospital in America, which directly resulted in the eliminatino
of the preacher physician in America. Almost all the doctors had training
from London, proving that England’s influence on America was a direct result
in the demise of the preacher physician. Thomas Bond, M.D., who was
concerned for the poor sick and the insane in Philadelphia, had seen hospitals
abroad and wanted to introduce a general hospital to America (Healthcare
25). The most respected physicians to be installed in the hospital were mostly
had training in England and other parts of Europe. We can see advances
in medicine in fields such as obstetrics. In early colonial America,
only women were allowed to be involved with the duties of childbirth.
The first baby was delivered at Pennsylvania hospital in 1765 (Savage 49).
When we study the advancement of obstetrics we find Dr. Mckenzie being a
great influential teacher to both William Shippen Jr. and Thomas Parker who
both had received London training and practiced at Pennsylvania hospital
(Bell 574). London had it’s own counselor for American students of
medicine studying in England, Dr. John Fothergill, who encouraged students
such as Thomas Parker to remain in London to finish their studies (Bell 573).
The education of American doctors in England was discrediting to all beliefs
of the preacher physicians, concentrating on experiments and observation,
which led to beginnings of contemporary medical practice near the end of
the colonial period. Pennsylvania recognized the medical degrees of
the London trained physicians, showing the approval of these doctors to be
the most respected and skilled in the mid - 1700’s, which was the same time
that preacher physicians disappeared.
Many factors have influenced our nation’s advance in medical
care which caused the diminishing of the preacher physician. Success
was being shown in through the work of the revolutionizing doctors of London.
The London training of American physicians, and the European influence on
America to create hospitals and colleges quickly surpassed the old kitchen
remedies of the preacher physician, such as the bleeding of patients and
their reliance on God to help them with their sickness. The new wave
of physicians treated patients with high success rates. The strength
of these numbers surpassed the strong voice of the preacher physician, especially
during times of need.