Overview

After modern New South Wales was established in 1788, the health modalities of the British settlers were quickly organised into two rival camps. On the one hand there was the formal health system, acknowledged by governments and operated by those with recognised qualifications; on the other there was an informal system practiced by anyone who chose to call themselves a healer and whose therapies later came to be known as complementary or alternative medicine (referred to as Unconventional Medicine in this volume). Over the next two centuries the proponents of both camps were often so hostile and attacked each other with such ferocity that their conflict can justifiably be described as a ‘war’. This work sets out to trace the course of that war and demonstrates that it involved not only medical issues, but was strongly influenced by economic, social and particularly political developments.

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9781922358202

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Dr David G. Thomas has never seen himself as anything but an opportunistic author who launches into new literary projects only when he comes across subjects and issues which demand to be written. Such was the case when researching for his doctorate in the University of Sydney, where he was surprised to discover the ferocity of the clash between orthodox and alternative medicine in the State of New South Wales. The story of that clash, evident in the earliest records of medical practice in the State right up to the present, he saw as something worth adding to its historical tapestry. His early career in journalism in his native South Africa as well as in Australia, and also his teaching experience in the fields of politics, sociology and various health fields in Australian universities, most particularly in the School of Public Health and Community Medicine (in the process of being renamed Population Health) in the Medical Faculty of the University of New South Wales, equipped him well to undertake this current venture. He has been retired for a number of years but still holds the status of Honorary Senior Lecturer in the School of Population Health in the Medical Faculty.

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