Tag: Mary V. Seeman
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The 1960s in North American psychiatry
Mary Seeman Toronto, Ontario, Canada Rhonda’s “Monks” 1963 Private collection of Mary V. Seeman When I graduated from medical school in 1960, an unprecedented wave of optimism was sweeping the field of psychiatry. Effective antipsychotic medication, the offspring of chlorpromazine,1 was clearing out mental asylums. New antidepressants, such as imipramine and its many progeny,…
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Dress makes the doctor
Mary V. Seeman Ontario, Canada What doctors wear influences their image.1-3 Vestments act as powerful symbols; they are especially important, it has been argued, when the occupant of the symbolized role is new to it. The less sure a new physician is about his or her professional role, the more critical it is to be…
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Cadavers for dissection
Mary V. SeemanToronto, Ontario, Canada At the beginning of the twentieth century, medical students in Europe found it very difficult to obtain what at the time was considered essential: adequate numbers of cadavers for an anatomy class. Morgues permitted access to unclaimed corpses, but there were never enough. In every medical school in Europe, there…