Hardly the Best of Times the Practice of Medicine on the Maine Frontier, 1812-1841

Abstract

Account books left by two physicians provide a glimpse of the practice of medicine on the eastern Maine frontier. They reveal some interesting patterns: Both doctors practiced some dentistry, delivered babies, and engaged in sidelines outside their medical practice. Both vaccinated patients in the face of impending epidemics, and both treated internal afflictions using standard nineteenth-century medical therapeutics. Sometimes doctors did more harm than good, but even in this short span of time we can see progress on the medical frontier.