George Rosen (1910–1977) was an American
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
,
public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...
administrator, journal editor, and medical
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...
. His major interests were of the relationship of social, economic and cultural factors upon health.
Early life and education
Rosen was born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
to
immigrant parents from
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
. He was educated in local public schools and graduated from the
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...
in 1930.
Unable to obtain admission to a medical school because of quotas for
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
students, he entered the
University of Berlin
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...
Medical School in Germany, and received his medical degree in 1935 after completing a medical thesis. In Berlin, Rosen met the medical historian
Henry E. Sigerist from The
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
Medical School, who suggested to Rosen that he write his thesis on
William Beaumont
William Beaumont (November 21, 1785 – April 25, 1853) was a surgeon in the U.S. Army who became known as the "Father of Gastric Physiology" following his research on human digestion. who had studied and published on
gastric physiology. His friendship with Sigerist became lifelong. While working as a physician and public health administrator, he attended the
School of Public Health at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
and earned a
Masters of Public Health (MPH) in 1947. In 1950, he became a Diplomate of the
American Board of Public Health. Rosen took courses in
sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...
at Columbia University in 1939 and completed his
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...
in sociology in 1944.
Medical and public health careers
Upon his return to New York City, Rosen interned at the
Beth-El Hospital in Brooklyn for two years and soon began submitting articles to Sigerist’s ''
Bulletin of the History of Medicine
The ''Bulletin of the History of Medicine'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal established in 1933. It is an official publication of the American Association for the History of Medicine and of the Johns Hopkins Institute of the Histor ...
''. Rosen began his private practice in 1937 but it was not financially secure and he took a part-time job in the
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
Service of the
New York State Department of Health
The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) is the department of the New York state government responsible for public health. It is headed by Health Commissioner Mary T. Bassett, who was appointed by Governor Hochul and confirmed by the S ...
. In time, the Department of Health job became full-time and Rosen later became administrator of Public Health Clinics in New York. Later, he became a District Health Officer. In 1949, he served as Director of Health Education in the New York City Department of Health.
Rosen entered the
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and was assigned to the
Surgeon General’s Office as an
epidemiologist
Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and risk factor, determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population.
It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decision ...
. He was transferred to London where his knowledge of German was used in intelligence work. He returned to the New York City Department of Health after the war but left in 1950 to become medical director of
Health Insurance Program
Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, Mental health, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World H ...
(HIP), a prepaid
group medical practice Group medical practices practice medicine by physicians who share resources.
There are approximately 230,187 physician practices in the United States. Among the physician practices, 16.5% had only one office-based physician in 2016. Physician group ...
. He stayed for seven years. In 1951, he was appointed to a part-time professorship in health education at Columbia University and taught courses in
health education
Health education is a profession of educating people about health. Areas within this profession encompass environmental health, physical health, social health, emotional health, intellectual health, and spiritual health, as well as sexual and r ...
,
community health Community health refers to simple health services that are delivered by laymen outside hospitals and clinics. Community health is also the subset of public health that is taught to and practiced by clinicians. Community health volunteers and communi ...
, the sociology of
mental illness
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...
, and the
history of medicine
The history of medicine is both a study of medicine throughout history as well as a multidisciplinary field of study that seeks to explore and understand medical practices, both past and present, throughout human societies.
More than just histo ...
. In 1957, he became a full-time professor. In 1969, Rosen left Columbia to become professor of medical history and public health at
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
. He remained until his death in 1977.
Writing career
From 1938 to 1944, with the help from Sigerist, Rosen began to submit articles and later editor of The Ciba Foundation Symposium, a historical brochure financed by the drug company and distributed to physicians. In 1944, he took over the editorship until the publication was discontinued in 1950.
Rosen published articles and books on public health and the history of medicine, and the sociological, economic, and cultural aspects on health. By the time he died in 1977, he had a bibliography of nine books and approximately 200 articles. While Rosen was still in the Army, he and two associates founded the ''
Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences
The ''Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal that was originally published by the Department of the History of Medicine at Yale University and now is continued by Oxford University Pr ...
''. Rosen was the editor between 1946 and 1952, and he remained on the Editorial Board. He was also the editor of the ''
American Journal of Public Health
The ''American Journal of Public Health'' is a monthly peer-reviewed public health journal published by the American Public Health Association that covers health policy and public health. The journal was established in 1911 and its stated missio ...
'' from 1957 to 1973, served on the Editorial Board, and was known for his erudite editorials on a wide variety of topics.
The George Rosen papers are in the Yale University archives.
In 2014 the
American Association for the History of Medicine
The American Association for the History of Medicine is an American professional association dedicated to the study of medical history.
Background
It is the largest society dedicated to medical history in the United States, and the oldest such org ...
established in his honor the George Rosen Prize with funding from his daughter, Susan Rosen Koslow. The prize is awarded to the author or coauthors of a historical monograph on public health or social medicine.
Works
* Rosen, George. ''The Reception of William Beaumont’s Discovery in Europe, by Dr. George Rosen''. New York, Schuman’s, 1942.
* Rosen, George. ''The History of Miners’ Diseases: A Medical and Social Interpretation''. New York, Schuman’s, 1943.
* Rosen, George, ed. ''Herbs and Herbals''. Summit, NJ: Ciba Pharmaceutical Products, 1943.
* Rosen, George. ''The Specialization of Medicine with Particular Reference to Ophthalmology''. New York, Froben Press, 1944.
* Rosen, George. ''Fees and Fee Bills: Some Economic Aspects of Medical Practice in Nineteenth Century America''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1946.
* Rosen, George, and Beate Caspari-Rosen. ''400 Years of a Doctor’s Life''. New York, Schuman, 1947.
* Rosen, George. ''A History of Public Health''. New York, MD Publ., 1958.
* Rosen, George. ''Victor Robinson: A Romantic Medical Historian''.
hiladelphia, Temple Univ. School of Medicine, 1959
* Anderson, Odin W., and George Rosen. A''n Examination of the Concept of Preventive Medicine''. New York, 1960.
* Rosen, George. ''Madness in Society: Chapters in the Historical Sociology of Mental Illness''. London, Routledge & Paul, 1968.
* Rosen, George. ''From Medical Police to Social Medicine: Essays on the History of Health Care''. New York: Science History Publ., 1974.
* Rosen, George. ''Preventive Medicine in the United States, 1900-1975: Trends and Interpretations''. New York: Science History, 1975.
* Rosenberg, Charles E., ed. ''Healing and History: Essays for George Rosen''. Folkestone, Eng.: Dawson; New York: Science History Publ., 1979.
* Rosen, George. ''The Structure of American Medical Practice 1825-1944''. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1983.
Personal life
While in medical school Rosen met Beate Caspari and married her in 1933.
She was an ophthalmologist. She also assisted Rosen in his historical writings. The couple had two children, Peter and Susan.
Rosen died July 27, 1977, in Oxford, England, where he and Beate were traveling prior to his planned delivery of the keynote address at a major international conference on the history of medicine.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosen, George
American public health doctors
1910 births
1977 deaths
American healthcare managers
City College of New York alumni
Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
Jewish physicians
Jewish American historians
American medical historians
Humboldt University of Berlin alumni
Physicians from New York City
United States Army personnel of World War II
Historians from New York (state)
20th-century American Jews