Wellcome funded PhD on medical careers in the Victorian and Edwardian Post Office

Fully-funded PhD studentship to work on medical careers in the British Post Office. This research is part of Addressing Health, a three year Wellcome funded project that explores morbidity, mortality and occupational health in the Victorian and Edwardian Post Office.

 

The aim of the PhD is to understand the roles, status, career trajectories and professional contributions of medics employed by the UK’s Post Office in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Post Office Medical Service was a comprehensive network of permanent and contracted medical practitioners appointed to provide healthcare to the workforce. By the end of the nineteenth century over 500 doctors were involved, making it the largest occupational medical service in the country. 

This studentship will develop a clearer understanding of the growth of the Post Office Medical Service in the context of the field’s professionalisation. It will focus on identifying the medics employed and their professional backgrounds, and will identify change over time and between places, investigating the changing qualifications and experiences of doctors employed to provide care to the workforce. It will look at their medical expertise, examining their contributions to knowledge and exploring the significance of Post Office employment for their professional practice. It will also compare the nature of medical practice in the Post Office with other organisations, including other branches of the civil service and the police.

 

Details of the PhD are here

 

For further information please contact Dr Doug Brown