Medical Licensing and Discipline in America: A History of the Federation of State Medical Boards

摘要

David A. Johnson and Humayun J. Chaudhry's surprisingly engaging Medical Licensing and Discipline in America: A History of the Federation of State Medical Boards was published to commemorate the centennial celebration of the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB). It opens with the infamous John Brinkley, known for transplanting live goat testicles into men in order to “cure” impotence, and segues neatly into demonstrating how vital licensure and discipline continue to be for the medical profession and the general public. The authors pepper the book with many other such examples, making the dry remote process of licensure absorbing and pertinent to the reader. The thesis is laid out quite clearly in the introductory chapter: “[to] focus on the evolution of medical practice, education and regulation in North America from the 1600s to the 1800s, [with the remainder of the book] focusing on the formation, evolution and growth of the Federation and its continuing role on behalf of the nation's seventy state and territorial boards” (p. 2).