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Part one: Medicine stands still (upto 1500)

• Medieval medicine: approaches including natural, supernatural, ideas of Hippocratic and

Galenic methods and treatments; the medieval doctor; training, beliefs about cause of illness.

• Medical progress: the contribution of Christianity to medical progress and treatment;

hospitals; the nature and importance of Islamic medicine and surgery; surgery in medieval

times, ideas and techniques.

• Public health in the Middle Ages: towns and monasteries; the Black Death in Britain, beliefs

about its causes, treatment and prevention.

Part two: The beginnings of change (Early Modern Era: 1500-1800)

• The impact of the Renaissance on Britain: challenge to medical authority in anatomy,

physiology and surgery; the work of Vesalius, Paré, William Harvey; opposition to change.

• Dealing with disease: traditional and new methods of treatments; quackery; methods of

treating disease; plague; the growth of hospitals; changes to the training and status of

surgeons and physicians; the work of John Hunter.

• Prevention of disease: inoculation; Edward Jenner, vaccination and opposition to change.

Part three: A revolution in medicine (Industrial Era: 1800-1900)

• The development of Germ Theory and its impact on the treatment of disease in Britain: the

importance of Pasteur, Robert Koch and microbe hunting; Pasteur and vaccination; Paul

Ehrlich and magic bullets; everyday medical treatments and remedies.

• A revolution in surgery: anaesthetics, including Simpson and chloroform; antiseptics,

including Lister and carbolic acid; surgical procedures; aseptic surgery.

• Improvements in public health: public health problems in industrial Britain; cholera epidemics;

the role of public health reformers; local and national government involvement in public

health improvement, including the 1848 and 1875 Public Health Acts.

Part four: Modern medicine (1900-present)

• Modern treatment of disease: the development of the pharmaceutical industry; penicillin, its

discovery by Fleming, its development; new diseases and treatments, antibiotic resistance;

alternative treatments.

• The impact of war and technology on surgery: plastic surgery; blood transfusions; X-rays;

transplant surgery; modern surgical methods, including lasers, radiation therapy and keyhole

surgery.

• Modern public health: the importance of Booth, Rowntree, and the Boer War; the Liberal

social reforms; the impact of two world wars on public health, poverty and housing; the

Beveridge Report and the Welfare State; creation and development of the National Health

Service; costs, choices and the issues of healthcare in the 21st century