Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


Thesis ETD_Kuehnl.pdf (466.91 KB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Establishing Professional Legitimacy: Black Physicians and the Journal of the National Medical Association

Kuehnl, Nathan
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1382115117

Abstract Details

2013, Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, History.
In response to racist discrimination and the crisis of African American health, Black physicians in the early twentieth century stressed the development of professional standards. The establishment of the National Medical Association and its journal became the main forum of discussion in the pursuit of this professionalism. The discourse in the Journal of the National Medical Association reveals the state of African American health and the Black medical profession during the early twentieth century. Journal contributors used the rhetoric of professionalism when addressing the major obstacles for Black physicians. They demanded medical education reform not only to match standards set by White medical professionals, but also in an effort to produce more competent physicians. Black physicians contributed to the Black hospital movement with the hopes that hospitals would provide opportunities for physicians to improve their skills and promote their legitimacy. The journal expressed the need for public health initiatives that would display the professional authority and medical competency of Black physicians. This thesis argues that the emphasis on professional development represents a key component of the identity of Black physicians. Moreover, Black physicians recognized that establish professional legitimacy and authority was integral to shaping medicine and addressing African American health in the future. The pursuit of professionalism, above all else, drove Black medical professionals to pursue medical education reform, the hospital movement, and public engagement.
Walter Grunden, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Nicole Jackson, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
91 p.
African American Studies; African Americans; American History; Health; History; Medicine
African Americans; history; health; medicine; medical profession; Black physicians; National Medical Association

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Kuehnl, N. (2013). Establishing Professional Legitimacy: Black Physicians and the Journal of the National Medical Association [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1382115117

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Kuehnl, Nathan. Establishing Professional Legitimacy: Black Physicians and the Journal of the National Medical Association. 2013. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1382115117.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Kuehnl, Nathan. "Establishing Professional Legitimacy: Black Physicians and the Journal of the National Medical Association." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1382115117

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1382115117
2,518
© 2013, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.