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Casebooks for the surgical clinic held by the College of Physicians and Surgeons at its building at East 23rd Street and Fourth Avenue (now Park Avenue South), 1873-1884.
History and Biography
The College of Physicians and Surgeons in the City of New York (P&S) was established by a charter granted by the New York State Board of Regents in 1807. In 1814, students and faculty of the moribund Columbia College Medical Faculty (founded 1767) were merged into P&S. In 1860, the College amicably severed its relationship with the Regents and forged a nominal affiliation with Columbia College. However, it was not until 1891 that P&S fully merged into Columbia. Since 2017 it has been known as the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Organization
Casebooks for the surgical clinic held by the College of Physicians and Surgeons at its building at East 23rd Street and Fourth Avenue (now Park Avenue South), 1873-1884. There is one casebook each for the men’s and women’s departments; however, the contents in each volume are roughly identical. Entries always include date of visit, name of patient, address, and reason for visit. Notes on treatment or outcome are rarer and names of the physicians involved are almost never mentioned.
According to the college’s 1874 Announcement “the College Cliniques, held within the College building, have been for some years an important feature of the course…a great variety of diseases in all the prominent departments of Practical Medicine and Surgery are presented” (p. 10). The surgical clinic was held weekly in this period and attracted patients from across the New York metropolitan area, though Manhattan residents predominate.
Though P&S held clinics in all the major medical specialties, these are the only two casebooks relating to them held by Archives & Special Collections.
Subject Headings and Related Records
Administrative Information
Acquisition information lacking. Held by Archives & Special Collections by 1997.
Finding aid written by Stephen Novak, 2022.