THE ROLE OF MEDICAL SOCIETIES IN THE RISE OF THE SCOTTISH MEDICAL-PROFESSION 1730-1939

Summary: The role of medical societies in the professionalization of medicine is an area of study which has been somewhat neglected over the last twenty years. The purpose of this paper is to re-open this field of interest by examining the formation and functions of Scottish medical societies over a two hundred year period. The societies will be considered both from the stand-point of their influence on the local medical milieu and within the context of the wider world of British medicine.The paper is divided into three sections: the waxing and waning fortunes of the 122 Scottish medical societies in existence during the period 1730-1939; the variety of societies which flourished in these years, with particular reference to how this mirrors the growing division between consultant and general practitioner; and, lastly, the connection between the fate and changing functions of certain local medical societies and the development and spread of district branches of the British Medical Association to Scotland in the later part of the nineteenth century.Ultimately, the importance of medical societies lies in their close reflection of the trends within the professionalization process of medicine in this country over a considerable period of time. © 1991 The Society for the Social History of Medicine.