Izba Lekarska Prowincji Poznańskiej w Poznaniu 1887-1919

Andrzej Grzybowski

The history of medical self-government is connected with the development of the i9th-century idea of decentralizing administration. The source of this idea was the liberal doctrine that opted for constitutionalism and the rights and freedoms it guaranteed. The decentralization of administration originated in the conviction that a given group of citizens is able to take care of their own business and simultaneously consider the well-being of general public resulting from the tasks they were assigned. The idea of self-government, including a corporate self-government, appeared. Such modernizing processes took place in Prussia in the second half of the 19th century. They were also present in the Polish lands incorporated by Prussia as a result of partition treaties, also in the Poznan Province. Poznan was also the first of the Polish cities under foreign rule that had its own medical self-government, the medical council. Medical councils were professional and self-governing organizations. They represented the professional interests of doctors before the authorities, they solved cases related to delivering medical services, they paid special attention to maintaining the dignity of medical profession and to the high standard of medical services provided in private practices. They also played a role of arbitration boards and solved disputes between physicians and institutions of citizens. During the councils meetings, the problems of spreading contagious diseases, introduction of vaccinations, functioning of health care institutions, issues concerning medical professions were discussed. The councils also examined the problems of prevention and hygiene in the province.