History of medical practice in Illinois - Bushnell Historical Society

214 History of Medical Practice in Illinoiscenters there were no special provisions for obstetric care in any of thehospitals.Epidemic diseases prevailed but their causes were only guess work. Inone instance an epidemic of erysipelas raged in Moline, Illinois, for threemonths and all the pregnant women who delivered in that community duringthat period(20 in number) died of puerperal sepsis.Public health and sanitation even in the crudest form were almost unknown.Medical Education? Illinois was fortunate in having close medical relationsto two large cities, namely St. Louis, Missouri, on the southwesternedge of the state, and Chicago in the northeastern portion. Evansville,Indiana, on the southeastern border had a medical school whichfurnished some degree of interest in medical education and progress toIllinois. Chicago's location, at the foot of Lake Michigan and at the transcontinentalcrossroads, and its rapid growth attracted many able physicianswho early saw the necessity for providing medical educational facilities.They had come for the most part from New York, Philadelphia, Bostonand Cincinnati, and brought with them the pattern of medical educationcurrent in these centers at that time. These men, some of whom had hadfairly good training in eastern schools and abroad, were sadly handicappedin their teaching by almost complete absence of clinical material. Thestudent attended a few lectures on the subjects of obstetrics and gynecology,but there were no deliveries to attend, no pregnant women to examineand no labors to be witnessed. Books on the subject were as a rule hard toobtain and in most cases poorly written. Libraries were absent from allbut the larger centers.The rise of specialization in obstetrics and gynecology begins with therise of the medical schools: Rush Medical College in 1843, the IllinoisCollege at Jacksonville in 1843, and the Chicago Medical College in 1859.At first, gynecology was a part of general surgery, although early in thedevelopment of the schools certain surgeons interested themselves primarilywith gynecology. These men were not specialistsin the modern sense ofthe word since their only claim to special knowledge of the subject in mostinstances was that they had built up their practice along these lines and hadattained a local reputation for proficiency among the laity and their professionalcolleagues.The men who were called to the Chairs of Obstetrics in these centersduring the 1850 period varied greatly in training and knowledge. Manyhad taught in some capacity in one or more of the eastern schools. In somecases they had helped to organize those schools and had then moved west-8For a detailed account of medical education in Illinois during this period see ChapterXXI.-EditOT