18世纪到19世纪初期英美医疗信息的跨大西洋交流

The Transatlantic Exchange of Medical Information between North America and Britain during the 18th and Early 19th Century

18世纪以来,随着航运业的发展,跨洋邮政快速扩张,各种医疗技术,典型者如天花接种和牛痘接种,都实现了跨大西洋传播,从英国传播到北美大陆。欧洲医生和北美留学生则构成医疗知识跨大西洋交流的特殊载体,他们在18世纪到19世纪初期不断跨越大西洋,将英国的医疗技术和知识推广到北美。不仅如此,北美的医疗技术和知识,尽管数量较少,但也实现了跨大西洋的反向交流。其结果是,英美跨大西洋医疗信息交流,推动形成一个相对稳定的学术共同体,英美医学界之间存在着一个无形的"医学公共领域"。这种跨大西洋医疗信息的交流对于北美大陆尤为重要,奠定了美国早期历史上医疗体系的基础。

In the Eighteenth Century, with rapid development of navigation and shipping, private and public postal service, the transatlantic medical communications emerged. Various medical technologies were spread from England to North America, among which inoculation and vaccination were the typical examples. In addition, European doctors and American foreign medical students were the special agents of transatlantic medical communications, who brought medical technologies and knowledge from England to North America. Medical information of North America in turn was brought to Europe, which was reversely transatlantic communications.The results were, transatlantic medical communications between England and North America,created a stable medical commonwealth, which was a intangible medical public sphere. Finally,this kind of communications was crucially important to North America and laid foundations for medical system in Early America.