Dartmouth Medical Student Notebooks

Help transcribe Dartmouth Medical School history!

The Dartmouth Medical School was founded in 1797 by Nathan Smith who, in 1796, petitioned the Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College for permission to travel to Edinburgh, Scotland to "attend to the several branches of medicine as taught & practiced there" and then return to establish the first medical school in New Hampshire. Dartmouth Medical School, now named The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, is the fourth oldest medical school in the United States.

The founding of Dartmouth Medical School is indicative of the changing medical practices in the nineteenth century. During the century, medical practice transitioned from local (and sometimes amateur) remedies into a standardized profession. This collection documents changes in the study of medicine by bringing together Dartmouth medical student notebooks. The notebooks, consisting of medical and household recipes, lecture notes, and patient observations, offer direct access to the history of medicine and medical practice in New England.

This collection contains content that may be offensive and difficult to read and transcribe. Please view Dartmouth Library's Statement on Potentially Harmful Content.

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