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SMJ // Article

Review Article

The Kappa Lambda Society of Hippocrates: Historical Perspective on an Early Medical Professional Society

Authors: Suzanne M. Shultz, MA

Abstract

The Kappa Lambda Society of Hippocrates, an early medical professional organization, was founded circa 1819 in Lexington, Kentucky, amid the first economic depression in the United States. Its primary stated purpose was to elevate medicine as a profession. This article will reevaluate the acknowledged purposes and accomplishments of the Society in the social and economic context of its time, and consider the extent to which it may have advanced the professional stature and economic station of educated medical practitioners.


Key Points


* The Kappa Lambda Society of Hippocrates was an early 19th century professional medical society.


* The primary purpose of the Kappa Lambda Society was to advance the professional stature of educated physicians.


* Kappa Lambda Society tried to delineate professional boundaries between themselves and all “other ” practitioners in an extraordinarily competitive environment.

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