New Medical Regulations and their Impact on Female Healers

Abstract

Several important changes occurred in the development of medicine from the later Middle Ages into the Early Modern era. One important transformation was the increasing trend towards the professionalization of medicine. This meant a clear demarcation between the various branches of medical practice from physician, surgeon, barber to apothecary, with the university educated physician at the apex of the medical hierarchy. The formal training of medical practitioners became part and parcel of the professionalization process. A university education became mandatory for those wanting to practise legally as physicians, and physicians in European countries would be strictly differentiated from surgeons. Only physicians received university training, while surgeons, barber-surgeons and apothecaries qualified through an apprenticeship. An example of a surgeon’s apprenticeship could be four years of hospital work. Since women were banned from attending universities in European countries with the exception of Italy, they were therefore legally prohibited from becoming licensed physicians until the nineteenth century.