Doctor D. Dutton was born just after World War II. A family interest in medicine took this baby boomer to the Medical College of Virginia in 1974. Now a practicing physician approaching age fifty, Dr. Dutton has begun to reflect on the generations of Dutton healers and practitioners.

• There was Dutton's great-great-great grandparent, born about 1800 and died just at the end of the Civil War.
• Dutton's great-grandparent, born in 1840, whose practice spanned the 1860s to the 1910s.
• Dutton's grandparent, born in 1875, who, began to practice in 1900 and, though wanting to retire, continued to practice during World War II so that younger doctors could join the military.
• And finally Dutton's parent, born in 1915, who represents modern medicine--the medicine with which Lewis Thomas (The Youngest Science) is familiar.

After sorting through family records, and reading extensively in the history of American medicine, D. Dutton has decided to publish a family history of medicine. You have been hired as the "ghostwriter" for Dr. Dutton's biographical study. The editor who will publish the biography has assigned you three tasks.

#1. Your first task is to choose a "theme" for the biography that will explain changes in clinical practice. The editors for D. Dutton's publication have already indicated they do not want to see "Whig (or progressive) history"; "things got better" will not be a publishable theme. The editors also want a title that captures the theme. (This theme should be clearly identified in the introduction to your essay.)

#2. Your second task is to prepare a 5-page prospectus for the book--a summary of the medical experiences of this family. Using the theme as your framework you will compare the lives of these practitioners. Your essay should point out the major differences (and any similarities) in the medical practices of D. Dutton's kin. Some questions to think about as you review the course material:

• Who was each practitioner? Note that I have carefully avoided gender or class distinctions and geographic location of practice in the description of the practitioners. How does the identity of the practitioner help to explain the practice?
• What medical training did each generation receive? Note: I did not say that each was an M.D.
• In what setting did each practitioner practice? And (how) did the setting influence the healer/doctor-patient relationship?
• How did the reigning ideas of disease diagnosis and therapy frame each generation's approach to practice? What did each practitioner do when confronted with an ailing patient?
• Define the practitioner's position in the community? How respected was each generation's practitioner of medicine?

Write an essay that brings D. Dutton's family members to life. And one that tells readers how and why the medical world of D. Dutton and parent in the late twentieth century is different from (or the same as) the medical world of the great-great-great grandparent of the early nineteenth century.

The essay should demonstrate a synthesis of the readings, class presentations, videos, and class discussions.

#3. Your third task is to attach a time-line showing each generation's years of practice and the major medical events that might have influenced the practice.

FORMAT:
Length: 5 pages double-spaced, plus the time-line

REMEMBER TO PROOFREAD YOUR ESSAY! Spell checks mandatory and grammar checks recommended!

 

As before, put your name on a separate title page and nowhere else on the essay. Put the title of your biography on the first page of the essay.

Due: Friday, March 19.

Submission:

• Submit a paper copy at 9:00 in the classroom
• OR After 9AM submit paper copies to me in my office, 413 Major Williams
• OR Send the essay as an email attachment. I will acknowledge receipt within 24 hours.

LATE PAPERS: ESSAYS RECEIVED AFTER MARCH 19 WILL LOSE ONE LETTER GRADE FOR EACH DAY THEY ARE LATE.