Summary
Over the past 140 years, the close academic and clinical interactions in Internal Medicine between German-speaking countries and the United States have been through three distinct stages. From 1870 until the First World War, German medical research, teaching, and university organization served as a model for U.S. medical schools and practice. However, after World War I, medical education reforms were implemented in the U.S., and due also to radical economic and political changes at home, German medicine lost its pioneering role. Furthermore, many scientists and clinicians were forced to emigrate in the face of racial and political persecution in Germany and Austria. Since the Second World War, American medicine has grown further to become the world leader in research, training, and clinical practice. The earlier trend of American physicians studying abroad was thus reversed, with many of today’s foremost German physicians completing clinical and research training in the United States.
Zusammenfassung
Die zwischen den USA und den deutschsprachigen Ländern bestehenden wechselseitigen akademischen und klinischen Interaktionen in der internen Medizin waren während der vergangenen 140 Jahre von 3 unterschiedlichen Phasen geprägt. Von 1870 bis zum I. Weltkrieg dienten die deutsche medizinische Forschung und Lehre sowie die Struktur der universitären Ausbildung als Leitbild für die amerikanische Medizin. In den Nachkriegsjahren – infolge einerseits entscheidender Umstrukturierungen der ärztlichen Ausbildung in den USA und andererseits radikaler ökonomischer und politischer Veränderungen in Deutschland – hat die Medizin der deutschsprachigen Länder ihre Vorreiterrolle eingebüßt. Außerdem wurden viele führende Forscher und Mediziner wegen rassistischer und politischer Verfolgung zum Auswandern aus Deutschland und Österreich gezwungen. Seit dem II. Weltkrieg hat sich die US-Medizin als weltweite Spitzenreiterin in Forschung, Lehre und Praxis etabliert. Dementsprechend absolvieren heute viele führende deutschsprachige Mediziner ihre klinische Ausbildung und die ersten Forschungsjahre in den USA – im Gegensatz zum früheren Trend amerikanischer Mediziner, zum Studium in deutschsprachige Länder zu gehen.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bean WB. Origin of the term “Internal medicine”. N Engl J Med. 1982;306:182–3.
Beeson PB. One hundred years of american internal medicine. A view from the inside. Ann Intern Med. 1986;105:436–44.
Moll W. History of american medical education. Br J Med Educ. 1968;2:173–81.
Boehm L. Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835) and the University: Idea and implementation. Mitt Alexander Von Humboldt-Stift. 1985;46:1–8.
Bonner TN. American doctors and German universities: A chapter in international intellectual relations 1870–1914. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press; 1963.
Bonner TN. The German model of training physicians in the United States, 1870–1914: How closely was it followed? Bull Hist Med. 1990;64:18–36.
Linzer M. The journal club and medical education: over one hundred years of unrecorded history. Postgrad Med J. 1987;63:475–8.
Warren R. Reflections on nineteenth century German medicine. Am J Surg. 1978;135:461–8.
Maulitz RC. Grand Rounds: An Introduction to the History of Internal Medicine. In: Maulitz RC, Long DE, editors. Grand Rounds. One Hundred Years of Internal Medicine. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press; 1988. p. 3–14.
McGehee A. A centennial history of medicine at Johns Hopkins. vol. II. A pictorial history of medicine at Johns Hopkins. A Model of its Kind. vol I. Baltimore London: Johns Hopkins University Press; 1989.
Flexner A. Medical Education in the United States and Canada: A Report to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Bulletin Number 4. New York: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; 1910.
Abraham Flexner: Medical Education in Europe: A Report to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Bulletin Number 6. New York; 1912.
Zimmer HG. Carl Ludwig: the man, his time, his influence. Pfluegers Arch Eur J Physiol. 1996;432:R9–22.
Hoff HE. Medical progress a century ago: the physiology laboratory comes to America. part II. Conn Med. 1972;36:109–15.
Kirsner JB. The development of American gastroenterology. New York: Raven Press; 1990.
Bonner TN. Friedrich von Müller of Munich and the growth of clinical science in America, 1902–1914. J Hist Med Allied Sci. 1990;45:556–69.
Morman ET, Rosen G. Public Health and History. In: Rosen G, editor. A History of Public Health. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press; 1993.
Pearle KM. Preventive medicine. The refugee physician and the New York medical community 1933–1945. Bremen: Universität Bremen; 1981.
Kroener HP. Die Emigration deutschsprachiger Mediziner im Nationalsozialismus. Berichte zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte. Weinheim: Organ der Gesellschaft für Wissenschaftsgeschichte; 1989.
Edsall DL, Putnam TJ. The Emigré physician in America; 1941. Report of the National Committee for Resettlement of Foreign Physicians. J Am Medic Assoc. 1941;117:1881–8.
Black H. Doctor and Teacher, Hospital Chief: Dr. Samuel Proger and the New England Medical Center. Chester: Globe Pequot Press; 1982.
Schlepper M. Franz Maximilian Groedel – ein deutsches Schicksal von internationaler kardiologischer Bedeutung. Z Kardiol. 1988;77(Suppl 5):155–77.
Hoenig L, Boyle JD. The life and death of Ismar boas. J Clin Gastroenterol. 1988;10:16–24.
Kirsner JB. The specialization of gastroenterology in America. Gastroenterology. 1993;104:6–11.
Davis AB. Rudolf Schindler’s role in the development of gastroscopy. Bull Hist Med. 1972;46:150–70.
Gordon ME, Kirsner JB. Rudolf Schindler, pioneer endoscopist. Glimpses of the man and his work. Gastroenterology. 1979;77:354–61.
Schmid R, Schenker S. Hans Popper in Memoriam. 1903–1988. Hepatology. 1989;9:669–74.
Murrow ER. In Search of Light. The Broadcasts of Edward R. Murrow 1938–1961. New York: Alfred A. Knopf; 1967.
Heller P. A concentration camp diary. Holocaust testimonies. Midstream (N Y). 1980;4:29:36.
Wyngaarden JB. Certain aspects of medical research and its support. Rev Infect Dis. 1987;9(Suppl 5):443–9.
Kürschner. Kürschners Deutscher Gelehrten-Kalender, 16th ed. Berlin New York: De Gruyter; 1992. p. 2252–3.
Thauer R. Nachruf Otto H. Gauer. Berichte und Mitteilungen. Berlin: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft; 1979, Sonderheft.
Humboldt Awards for Senior U.S. Scientists. Berlin: Alexander von Humboldt Foundation 1953–1983. 1983. S. 187–190.
Feodor Lynen Research Fellowships for German Academics. Berlin: Alexander von Humboldt Foundation 1953–1983. 1983. S. 204–209.
Pfeiffer H. Foreword: The U.S. Special Program in the Past Ten Years. Report on the Sponsorship of Senior U.S. Scientists as recipients of the Humboldt Award from 1972–1981. Berlin: Alexander von Humboldt Foundation; 1983.
Lohoelter R. Zur internationalen Entwicklung der Studienreform in der Medizin. In: Habeck D, Schagen U, Wagner G, editors. Reform der Ärzteausbildung. Neue Wege in den Fakultäten. Berlin: Blackwell; 1993. p. 51–69.
Navarro FA. Englisch oder Deutsch? Die Sprache der Medizin aufgrund der in der Deutschen Medizinischen Wochenschrift erschienenen Literaturangaben (1920–1995). Dtsch Med Wschr. 1996;121:1561–6.
LaRusso NF. Gastroenterology: An International Journal. Gastroenterology. 1995;108:625–6.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Janet Collins (ICCC Rhein-Main, Frankfurt/Main, Germany) for writing support and proofreading.
Financial support
This work was supported in part by a grant from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany to AS-B and JS.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
A. Schulte-Bockolt, K.H. Soergel, and J. Stein state that there are no conflicts of interest.
Additional information
Some extracts of this manuscript were previously published in:
1. Soergel KH, Schulte-Bockolt A. Innere Medizin in Deutschland und U.S.A. – Wechselseitige Einfluesse. In: Classen M., ed. Internisten und Innere Medizin im 20. Jahrhundert. Muenchen-Wien-Baltimore: Urban & Schwarzenberg; 1994. p. 546–65.
2. Schulte-Bockholt A, Bauer A: Innere Medizin in den deutschsprachigen Ländern und in den USA. Wechselseitige Einflüsse und Wandel der Beziehungen von 1870 bis 1990. Gesnerus. 1995;52:94–115.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Schulte-Bockolt, A., Soergel, K.H. & Stein, J. Internal medicine in the United States and Germany: mutual influences from 1870 to today. Wien Med Wochenschr 166, 479–486 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10354-016-0455-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10354-016-0455-0