Year: 1988
Type: book-review
Abstract: Jake Spidle, Professor of History at the University of New Mexico, has contributed an interesting, well-written account of doctors in New Mexico.The book developed from a centennial (1886-1986) history project of the New Mexico Medical Society.Although it fulfills the memorial aims of the sponsoring organization, Spidle blends the history of the state with the revolutionary changes in the practice of medicine.The hand of a professional historian is revealed by his skillful use of oral histories and a scholarly use of published and unpublished sources.In the early history of New Mexico, the tuberculosis business was nothing less than coequal in importance to the cattle and mining industries.The high desert air of the region was considered salubrious for tuberculosis.It brought in an army of consumptives seeking the cure, often in the sanatoriums that proliferated for their care.Many of the doctors also were "lungers."By midcentury, tuberculosis was controlled and the sanatorium business perished."Las Doctoras," the chapter about women physicians, is particularly intriguing.Small in number but large in their contributions, they were the key movers in reducing the shameful infant and maternal mortality.One of them, Evelyn Frisbie, in 1916 became the first woman president of a state medical society.Public health was not organized on a statewide basis until 1919, seven years after New Mexico became a state.A malaria eradication program was successfully carried out, with a practitioner, Charles Gerber, as the driving force.A systematic development of the department was initiated by a Public Health Service officer, Clifford Waller, who was assigned to the state.Vital statistics, registration, sanitation, and surveillance programs became rou- tine.These were supported by practitioners and their society.There remained wariness about visiting health nurses and other potential threats to medical practice.New Mexico entered the modern era of medicine during the 1950s, with the expansion of the Lovelace Medical Center and the opening in 1964 of a four-year school of medicine at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.The New Mexico Medical Society was the coordinating instrument for medical standards and other medical affairs.Missing from the book are the economic aspects of medicine and attempts to achieve cost containment.Missing also, sadly, are discussions of the Indian populations and their health problems.The roles of federal programs in medicine, including the fiascos of Regional Medical Programs and Comprehensive Health Planning, are underplayed.The book is attractively printed, but many photographs are of poor quality.The book is recommended to medical historians but is of sufficient interest for general readers as well.
Source: PubMed Central
Authors: Tim B. Hunter, Laurie L. Fajardo
Language: English
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2408325778