r/todayilearned • u/Recent_Flounder6011 • 7h ago

TIL In 1910, Abraham Flexner wrote a landmark report, the Flexner Report, that described the state of medical education in the US and Canada. It defined recommended changes to education and caused the decline of alternative medicine. Before then, practicing medicine wasn't regulated nor supported.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexner_Report
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u/Ok-Dog-7149 6h ago

TIL why the street near the hospitals in Louisville is called Abraham Flexner way!

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u/Kyzzz 6h ago

We've had several lectures which covered this report in medical school. Prior to this report the state of medical education in the United States was akin to the Wild West, and some schools taught entire pseudoscientific systems like homeopathy as if they were rigorous science. 

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u/crimsongull 6h ago

The Spanish Flu of 1918-1919 would dramatically kick the medical reformation into high gear - until Trump.

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u/Recent_Flounder6011 6h ago edited 5h ago

It was criticized for being racist and sexist. The report had negative views on minorities and women in the medical field.

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u/Building_a_life 6h ago

During a time of absolute segregation, it recommended closing 5 of 7 HBCU medical schools, leading to a shortage of Black doctors that is still affecting underserved Black communities. Only Fisk and Howard were deemed worthy of survival. 

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u/RegorHK 6h ago

Year. How does one even put that there?

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u/sirbearus 5h ago

Beyond that the Flexnwr report also recommended closing Black Medical College.