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Letters
VETERINARY HISTORY
Origins of ‘one medicine’ BRUCE Vivash Jones (VR, December 14, 2013, vol 173, pp 587-588) is mistaken in claiming that the initial aspiration to train students in One Medicine at the London (later Royal) Veterinary College was abandoned during Edward Coleman’s stewardship (1793-1839). Recent inquiries, performed under a Wellcome Trust-funded programme of research on the history of One Health, reveal that although Coleman’s teaching focused on clinical disorders of the horse, veterinary students also attended a host of lectures offered by London surgeons and physicians outside of the veterinary school. These included courses on anatomy, material medica, midwifery, physic and surgery, given by staff of the London medical schools. Meanwhile, medical students had the option to attend veterinary lectures, offered by Edward Coleman at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals, and by William Youatt at University College London. Reflecting an interest in farriery, which predated the veterinary profession’s creation, doctors engaged in the clinical treatment of animals. They also performed investigations into animal anatomy, pathology and epidemics, often relying heavily on veterinary assistance (Bresalier and others 2014). These findings show that there was no eclipse of One Health in Britain during the first half of the 19th century. Rather, this was one of its most fruitful periods. It is here that One Health advocates should be looking in order to learn from the past. Wrangling over who was the first to use the term or recognise the concept is largely irrelevant. Abigail Woods, Reader in the History of Human and Animal Health, King’s College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS e-mail: [email protected]
Reference
BRESALIER, M., CASSIDY, A. & WOODS, A. (2014) One health in history. In One Health: the Theory and Practice of Integrated Health Approaches. Eds J. Zinsstag, E. Schelling, M. Whittaker, M. Tanner, D. Waltner-Toews. CABI (In press)
doi: 10.1136/vr.f7561 614 | Veterinary Record | December 21/28, 2013
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on April 26, 2015 - Published by group.bmj.com
Origins of 'one medicine' Abigail Woods Veterinary Record 2013 173: 614
doi: 10.1136/vr.f7561 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/173/24/614.1
These include:
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Notes
To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
Letters
VETERINARY HISTORY
Origins of ‘one medicine’ BRUCE Vivash Jones (VR, December 14, 2013, vol 173, pp 587-588) is mistaken in claiming that the initial aspiration to train students in One Medicine at the London (later Royal) Veterinary College was abandoned during Edward Coleman’s stewardship (1793-1839). Recent inquiries, performed under a Wellcome Trust-funded programme of research on the history of One Health, reveal that although Coleman’s teaching focused on clinical disorders of the horse, veterinary students also attended a host of lectures offered by London surgeons and physicians outside of the veterinary school. These included courses on anatomy, material medica, midwifery, physic and surgery, given by staff of the London medical schools. Meanwhile, medical students had the option to attend veterinary lectures, offered by Edward Coleman at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals, and by William Youatt at University College London. Reflecting an interest in farriery, which predated the veterinary profession’s creation, doctors engaged in the clinical treatment of animals. They also performed investigations into animal anatomy, pathology and epidemics, often relying heavily on veterinary assistance (Bresalier and others 2014). These findings show that there was no eclipse of One Health in Britain during the first half of the 19th century. Rather, this was one of its most fruitful periods. It is here that One Health advocates should be looking in order to learn from the past. Wrangling over who was the first to use the term or recognise the concept is largely irrelevant. Abigail Woods, Reader in the History of Human and Animal Health, King’s College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS e-mail: [email protected]
Reference
BRESALIER, M., CASSIDY, A. & WOODS, A. (2014) One health in history. In One Health: the Theory and Practice of Integrated Health Approaches. Eds J. Zinsstag, E. Schelling, M. Whittaker, M. Tanner, D. Waltner-Toews. CABI (In press)
doi: 10.1136/vr.f7561 614 | Veterinary Record | December 21/28, 2013
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on April 26, 2015 - Published by group.bmj.com
Origins of 'one medicine' Abigail Woods Veterinary Record 2013 173: 614
doi: 10.1136/vr.f7561 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/173/24/614.1
These include:
Email alerting service
Receive free email alerts when new articles cite this article. Sign up in the box at the top right corner of the online article.
Notes
To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
