Golden Age of Medicine

What contributed to the increased prestige of the medical profession?

Optimism towards medicine

Penicillin aided people in Boston fire of 1942

1940s Penicillin was widely distributed in order to aid army efforts

Celebration of medical researchers as heroes

Men in White: medical researchers as heroes. Hospital imagery was shiny, seen as temple of science

Stories of Pasteur (1936) and Ehrlich's Magic Bullet (1940)

Film version of Arrowsmith - doctors sacrificed personal for professional

Secret of Dr. Kildare - Kildare pushes older mentor to take vacation from trying to cure pnuemonia. Doc is very calm in stressful situations. Untarnished view of medicine lasting until 1950s or 60s

AMA deluged with requests for medical consultants

Mass Crusades against disease

March of Dimes: crusade against polio

Polio was disease of childre. Vaccine trials in 1950s on kids.

Mother's March

1950s ads with Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball

Flooded ads in theaters explaining how to mail dimes to the white house

March of Dimes introduced first poster child: Donald Anderson in 1946

"This fight is yous" harks back to WWII, seen as part of public health nationalism

Gave pins and badges, and cards, harking back to anti-TB crusades

Propagated narrative of Salk as hero during Cold War

Salk developed vaccine for Polio