Professionalizing Medicine

“This well-researched biography makes a positive contribution to the history of medicine by studying the ennobling example of James Reeves. ... This book offers inspiration for today's medical professionals confronting problems in health care by affirming that moral decisions should determine the path of the politics, economics, and science that may drive modern health care. ...recommended”—Choice
“an excellent biography of Reeves that not only details the life of this remarkable man but also shows how medicine as a profession, and the public perception of it, was influenced by a West Virginia doctor whose life spanned the period from 1829 to 1896.”—West Virginia History: A Journal of Regional Studies
“an important contribution to the biography of a precursor of American medicine [James Reeves], who might have been unjustly overshadowed by the developments that he helped generate.”—The Huntington
“As Dr. Harris demonstrates nicely, the roots of many of today’s threats to medicine as a profession emerged in the 19th Century. James Reeves’ story provides inspiration for today's professionals confronting challenges in caring for patients.”—Herbert M. Swick, MD, former president, American Osler Society and former executive director, Institute of Medicine and Humanities
“This well-written and deeply researched book explores the career of an extraordinary American physician, James Reeves. Though barely known today, Reeves was one of the most influential medical and public health leaders in the United States during the last third of the nineteenth century, a period of profound transition in American medical history. Professionalizing Medicine not only offers the first thorough account of Reeves’s fascinating life story, but also recounts the ways in which Reeves’s strong commitments helped create the professionalized medical system still in place today. And as Harris skillfully demonstrates, many of the ethical and structural issues that Reeves faced during his lifetime continue to reverberate into our own era.”—James C. Mohr, CAS Distinguished Professor of History and Philip H. Knight Professor of Social Sciences Emeritus, University of Oregon, author of Licensed to Practice--The Supreme Court Defines the American Medical Profession.