The Social Transformation of American Medicine: The rise of a sovereign profession and the making of a vast industry [Paperback]

Paul Starr (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 5, 1984 | ISBN-10: 0465079350 | ISBN-13: 978-0465079353

Winner of the 1983 Pulitzer Prize and the Bancroft Prize in American History, this is a landmark history of how the entire American health care system of doctors, hospitals, health plans, and government programs has evolved over the last two centuries."The definitive social history of the medical profession in America....A monumental achievement."--H. Jack Geiger, M.D., "New York Times Book Review"

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Paul Starr is Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University and its Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs. He is the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Social Transformation of American Medicine and The Creation of the Media. Starr is the co-founder and editor of The American Prospect. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (June 5, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465079350
• ISBN-13: 978-0465079353
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.2 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,159 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #21 in Books > Medical Books > History
  • #28 in Books > Medical Books > Administration & Medicine Economics > Public Health
  • #29 in Books > Medical Books > Administration & Medicine Economics > Health Care Delivery

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Why the US has a private health care system May 3, 2003

By Geodog

Format:Paperback

This Pulitzer Prize winning history of American Medicine does a lot to explain why the domain of public health is so small in the U.S., and why health in the U.S. is mostly a private, as opposed to public, matter. It takes some fortitude to get through, but it should be required reading for anyone who has ever wondered why, for better and for worse, the US is the only developed country that does not have social provision of medical care. Hint: It's not an accident. Recommended

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Read this to understand American healthcare. October 1, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

Since this book was written in 1985, I have used it to teach medical students about the changes in American healthcare. The last chapter, "The Coming of the Corporation," forecasts what has happened in the last decade. This book is a must for all who want to understand why the changes are occurring in American healthcare

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great history of American medicine January 8, 2004

By Luke Lin

Format:Paperback

For anyone interested in the healthcare as a profession or area of study, I can't recommend this book highly enough. Despite the 20 years since its publication, Paul Starr's Pulitzer prize winner is still relevant today and in retrospect his projections made of the future of healthcare in America are surpisingly prescient.

The first book describes the development of the medical profession in early America providing a fascinating look at the social evolution of American society. The second book delineates the rise of doctors, hospitals and medical schools in latter half of the 19th to the early 20th century with the rise of science and a professional authority. The third book shifts the focus from the doctors and to the industry that medicine became as well as the various attempts at healthcare reform in response to rising healthcare costs.

My only criticism is that Starr should have devoted more pages to the root causes behind the rising healthcare costs that drove the reforms of the 1960-70s described in the third book.