Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1019

JOHN MORGAN (1735-1789) A discourse upon the institution of medical schools in America. William Bradford 1765 vii, xxvi [2] 63 pp. 19.1 cm.

In 1757 Morgan graduated from the College of Philadelphia which became the University of Pennsylvania in 1791. He received his medical training by completing an apprenticeship with the Philadelphia physician, John Redman (1722-1808). Before going to Europe in 1760 for additional medical training, he served for several years as a surgeon in the French and Indian Wars. While studying in Europe he received an M.D. degree from Edinburgh, was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, an associate fellow of the Académie Royale de Chirurgie de Paris, and became a licentiate of London's Royal College of Physicians. After returning to the United States in 1765, Morgan was active in teaching and private practice and also served for a time as medical director of the Continental Army. Upon his return, Morgan proposed that the College of Philadelphia establish a medical school. His proposal was accepted and he was appointed the first professor of the theory and practice of medicine in this country's first medical school. The present treatise was prepared while Morgan was studying in Paris and he delivered it as the inaugural address at the commencement exercises of the College in May 1765. In this important early document on American medical education, the author discusses the nature and scope of medical curriculum, the importance of a comprehensive premedical education, the state of the practice of medicine in America, reasons for establishment of medical schools, and local factors that favored Philadelphia as a medical center. The University of Iowa Libraries' copy bears the signature of Charles Alexander Warfield (1751-1813) on the flyleaf. A Maryland physician, Warfield was a founder of the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland and was president of the College of Medicine of Maryland. He was active in the Revolutionary War and lead the Annapolis Tea Party in October 1774 in which the brig Peggy Stewart and her cargo of tea were destroyed.

Cited references: Austin 1335; Cushing M510; Osler 3454

Gift of John Martin, M.D.