Emergence of Medicine from the “Dark Ages”

In this brief discussion of recent medical history, I have tried to enable the reader to appreciate the dramatic improvement in health-care delivery, which occurred during the century following the American Civil War. In reference, one might compare the efficiency of transatlantic transport by sail to that of oceangoing steamships during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. All too frequently, one is tempted to believe that accurate diagnostic information and successful management of illness has been available for an indefinite period. One needs to only reflect on the deficiencies described in this volume, which persisted well into the twentieth century to appreciate the remarkably rapid evolution of medical care, which we regularly enjoy today.