Recent graduate seeking advice about potential Ph.D. programs

Elizabeth Root Discussion

I have recently graduated from a Master's program in History. I would like to further my education and have started the process of seeking and applying to Ph.D. programs, preferably one that works with the history of medicine. My Master's Thesis was based around the arguments and evidence that was published by several doctors who had experience with Philadelphia's 1793 yellow fever epidemic. I have an interest in epidemics throughout history, both American and European, and especially like to focus on the doctor's arguments that were created during and after these epidemics. While I do enjoy this aspect of medical history, I also have an interest in the environments role in medicine, natural / herbal remedies that were utilized in early America, etc. 

While I am searching through the many schools throughout the United States, any help with narrowing down my choices would be greatly appreciated. Also, I know these programs have foreign language requirements - for work in the history of medicine is there a preferred language that would beneficial for future study? 

7 Replies

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Hi Elizabeth,
While I'm in Comparative Literature myself, my advice in narrowing down graduate programs is this: find professors that you want to work with, or schools with particularly strong departments in your particular area of expertise. Are there academics out there who have published in your field, who do work that is similar to yours and whose guidance you would appreciate? If so, look at those schools. (Incidentally, since you mention studying a Philadelphia epidemic, the University of Pennsylvania may be a good choice for you; it has a very strong STS department).

It's been a while since I evaluated graduate programs, but you might start by seeing where your favorite article and book authors are located, and whether they have graduate students. Remember it is possible to study the history of medicine in a "regular" or "mixed" department, if there are faculty already embedded there. I did a survey for AAHM's Graduate Section about a decade ago, and if I remember correctly, about half of us were training in Departments of History rather than in specialized institutes. For my part, while my major exam field was History of Science and Medicine from the Scientific Revolution, my minor fields were Gender/Women's Studies and Modern Europe. This matters not only for informing your scholarship but also when you think about employment opportunities after grad school, because you can (theoretically and, hopefully, actually) teach in any of your exam fields. Finally, it sounds like your interests center around the Atlantic World, in which case French or Spanish would be a good choice of foreign language. I chose German for my foreign language--that was the classical choice--but my current audience is largely contemporary medical practitioners, and their interests skew heavily toward 20th-century American history. You might also consider a non-European language.

Dear Elizabeth,

Congratulations on your degree! The History of Science Society lists programs in the history of science and many of these include a history of medicine component: https://hssonline.org/resources/graduate-programs-in-history-of-science/. You may also wish to visit the website of the American Association for the History of Medicine (an AHA affiliate) for more information: histmed.org.

Best of luck with your search.

Jay Malone

Hi Elizabeth, I'm a current PhD candidate at Stanford in hist of sci, not focusing on history of medicine but on natural history, fairly close in many regards. In terms of finding a school, look for profs/potential advisers who work on ideas that interest you. Do you have any advisers/letter writers from undergrad or your masters program that can make some connections for you? I'd recommend going to them for some further advice.

Regarding language requirements, my opinion is - and others may disagree - that you should study a language that allows you to access cultures you're interested in, not languages that are necessarily "good" for hist of med. Some old-school hist of sci programs require knowledge of French and German, which I think privileges white, European, masculine, traditional histories of science. You can do history of medicine research in any culture, anywhere. I know this doesn't help narrow down the choices, but it hopefully removes any worry or doubt you might have about not knowing the "right" language!

If there's anything else I can help with, don't hesitate to reach out. I'll look forward to others' responses. Best, Anna

Hello, Elizabeth,
You might consider contacting Lisa Smith, https://www.essex.ac.uk/people/smith62403/lisa-smith
She was on my doctoral committee (I did an interdisciplinary PhD in rhetoric & media studies, looking at H1N1 media discourse). Although she is based in the UK, she may have suggestions for you.
Best of luck in your program!
Tess Laidlaw

For your interest, definitely check out Yale's program.

Check out the History of Medicine Program in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine Program at the University of Minnesota. If you check out the graduate student site on the website, http://hstm.umn.edu, you will find others with similar interests.