Who is a doctor?

The universities had given the title of doctor of medicine for centuries. But these were few in number and many other competent people practiced medicine, as well as many quacks. The nineteenth century was the time when the use of the title ‘doctor’ became more regulation and the qualifications of doctors became more settled. This helped to set standards of competence and to make quacks more obvious.

• In France, a law of 1803 regulated who could claim to be a doctor or practice as health workers
• In England, a law of 1858 established the British Medical Association
• In Germany, doctors were regulated from unification in the 1870s