ВИТОКИ РОЗВИТКУ ІННОВАЦІЙНОЇ ДІЯЛЬНОСТІ В МЕДИЧНИХ КОЛЕДЖАХ ПЕНСІЛЬВАНІЇ

Abstract

The article defines and highlights the origins of innovation development in Pennsylvania medical colleges up to the end of the 19th century. Besides, the research uses such general scientific methods as systematization, generalization, analysis, synthesis of foreign historical and pedagogical sources as well as the problem-chronological one – for logical and historical reconstruction of events related to the innovation activity in Pennsylvania medical colleges in the middle of the 18th – 19th centuries. The study reveals the origins of educational activities in the field of medicine. Note that Philadelphian T. Cadwalader was the first, who in the 1830s hold private classes in anatomy and dissection, but such activities neither took place in an educational institution nor proposed a degree. The true origins of the innovation activity in American medical colleges started with medical schools in Pennsylvania, namely the Medical College of Pennsylvania University (1765), the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania (1850), and Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia (1848). Besides, the Pennsylvania colleges were created according to the European model. Also, the Medical College of Pennsylvania University and the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania had a fairly rigorous selection process, while Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia, on the other hand, was liberal in its admission requirements. There were preconceived notions about the existence of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, as there were stereotypical opinions that the medical profession was only for men and women had no place in it. However, step by step the first female graduates convinced the American community to the contrary. During their existence, these medical colleges changed their names but did not cease to function with the right to be called examples of innovation activity in American medical education. As for further research, we will highlight the innovative activity of medical colleges in other American states from the mid-18th to the 19th centuries. Key words: American medical education, innovation activity, origin, name change, Medical College of Pennsylvania University, Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia.