Lääkärikunnan synty. Suomen lääkärit n. 1750–1850

Abstract

In this dissertation, I have studied the development and professionalization of physicians in Finland from the middle of the 18th century to the middle of the 19th century. The basis of the research is a prosopography database about physicians in the area of Finland during 1749–1856. I have also used annual reports from the physicians. The dissertation consists of five articles and an introduction, which has a separate database analysis and an article analysis, combining article results with the database and previous research. The dissertation examines the development of physician system in interaction with societal events, cultural and social development as well as patients and the local community. In previous research, the professionalization of physicians has been timed mostly based on single criteria of profession, for example with the number of physicians and their professional organization. However, these traditional criteria are not as relevant in the context of Sweden and Finland, where the development was much more state-driven than in many other European countries. Thus, it can be argued that the professionalization of physicians started earlier than has been traditionally estimated, and there were characteristics of a profession right from the first physicians. Even though the number of physicians rose slowly, many societal events, political decisions, reforms in education and closure of the profession raised physicians’ professional and social status. Especially the first decades of the 19th century were crucial for the development of physician system with the wartime, transfer of rule and reforms followed by the increase in Finnish physicians’ own autonomy. In the end, the physicians also needed the trust of their patients to seal their position in the field of health care: how they represented themselves as competent professionals, especially in comparison to other official and unofficial operators in health care.