A Doctor of Their Own

“In her fascinating study of the emergence of adolescent medicine, Heather Munro Prescott describes…the history of medicine from the perspective of social history… [She] reveals much about experts’ views of adolescence and the role of medicine in coping with youthful angst, illness, and rebellion in the twentieth century… Prescott’s thoughtful rendering of the interplay between teens, their parents, and medical professionals further underscores the relevance of the history of medicine to the social history of childhood and adolescence.”—Julia Grant, H-Net Reviews

“Prescott’s strengths lie in her clarity, thoroughness and willingness to expand from her case study to cover the entire century. Throughout, she pays appropriate attention to the social context within which adolescent medicine developed, so readers are taken not only through the politics of the profession but into the culture of early-twentieth-century anti-modernism and the critiques of post-Second World War suburbia.”—Matthew Hilton, Medical History

“[Prescott] reviews the social and medical events that focused the national agenda on addressing problems unique to teenagers, and she relates the early work of the founder of adolescent medicine, J. Roswell Gallagher, and his clinic at the Boston Children’s Hospital in 1952. The final chapter tracks the conceptual changes in adolescent medicine since the 1960s up to its establishment as a board-certified medical subspecialty of pediatrics in 1991. A well-written analysis and clear narrative of the development of adolescent medicine.”—G. Eknoyan, Choice