The History of Medicine Part 7: The AMA's change in direction

Born in Republican America, with its emphasis on democratic decentralization, the AMA was floundering in the late 1800's, with few doctors latching their sails to its agenda.  Most orthodox doctors remained fully independent, many graduated from poorly regulated schools without any firm curriculum, and the medical landscape was dominated by non-orthodox providers.  In this vein, the AMA shifted course in the late 1800's, increasing its funding stream, starting a journal, and gravitating towards a more top-down Progressive model of care.  Part of its shift required certain compromises and a restructuring of its code of ethics, enabling stronger relationships with the growing pharmaceutical industry that led to more ads and increased revenue, and permitting the inclusion of homeopaths into its orbit if they adhered to certain orthodox precepts.  Where the AMA did not bend is in its medical racial script, as it turned its back on the growing orthodox African American medical profession.