That Other Branch of Medicine: An Historiography of Veterinary Medicine from a Canadian Perspective

Animal (veterinary) medicine, that other branch of medical healing, forms a part of medical history and there are themes in common between human and veterinary medical historiography. Some of these themes include “ great docs, great diseases,” struggles with professionalization, institutional stories, general chronological overviews, development of medical disciplines, and the role of women. The “patient’s view” in veterinary historiography is somewhat different. Veterinary history includes the theme of “great animals” but this is not, in the medical historical sense, a “patient’s” view. Much work in this area of Canadian history remains to be accomplished.