Overview

The history of medicine is a small and specialized branch of history that focuses upon the health professions. 

Historians of medicine most commonly teach in universities, either in the history department or the medical school. They can teach courses in their specialty or in other areas of history; they also may teach within the health fields, depending upon their training and expertise. 

Medical historians also work in museums with historical medical collections (e.g., the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History), or in libraries and archives that specialize in medical history (e.g., the National Library of Medicine). 

They develop public exhibits, organize and provide access to historical collections, and carry out research leading to scholarly publications in the field. Virtually all medical history positions involve some degree of library research. 

For more information about pursuing a career in medical history, see the American Association for the History of Medicine website. 

You can download, save and print a PDF of this career profile:

Medical Historian Medical Historian 14 May 2008 [pdf, 178 KB]

Working Conditions

The number of professional history of medicine positions is smaller than the number of qualified applicants, so some historians put their training to good use in other ways, such as becoming science/medical journalists or working in history- or health-related professional organizations. 

Medical historians with the necessary education and licensure (i.e., those holding an MD) choose to practice medicine or another health profession, while still actively pursuing their research, teaching, and/or other activities in medical history on the side.