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A comprehensive, searchable database of all known students who studied medicine under William Cullen at the University of Edinburgh from 1746 to 1790.
Database Contents
3,000+ student records including:
- Full names and biographical details
- Dates of attendance at Edinburgh
- Previous education and institutions
- Subsequent career information
- Geographic origins (where known)
- Published works and medical practice locations
- Social and professional networks
Search and Analysis Features
- Advanced filtering by date range, geographic origin, career outcomes
- Sortable columns for all biographical fields
- Grouping capabilities to analyze cohorts by year, nationality, or career path
- Network visualizations showing connections between students
- Statistical summaries of enrollment patterns, geographic distribution, and career outcomes
- Export functionality for research purposes
Why This Matters
William Cullen (1710-1790) was the most influential medical teacher of the eighteenth century. Between 1746 and 1790, he taught thousands of students who went on to practice medicine throughout Britain, the Americas, and the wider British Empire. Understanding who these students were, where they came from, and what they did after Edinburgh reveals:
- The global reach of Scottish medical education
- Patterns of knowledge transmission in Enlightenment medicine
- Social mobility through medical education
- The formation of professional medical networks
- The dissemination of Cullen's medical theories worldwide
Foundation: Lisa Rosner's Pioneering Work
This database builds upon the foundational scholarship of Lisa Rosner:
Rosner, Lisa. Medical Education in the Age of Improvement: Edinburgh Students and Apprentices, 1760-1826. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1991.
Rosner's meticulous archival work established the core methodology for studying Edinburgh medical students systematically. Her book remains the definitive study of medical education in this period.
Data Sources
Primary sources:
- University of Edinburgh matriculation records
- Medical faculty graduation records (Laureati lists)
- Student dissertation dedications and prefaces
- Contemporary biographical dictionaries
- Medical society membership lists
- Published medical treatises and case studies
Secondary sources:
- University of Edinburgh Alumni Database (based on Rosner's research)
- Published biographical dictionaries (DNB, Munk's Roll, etc.)
- Recent scholarship on individual students and networks
Data Quality Notes
Completeness varies by period:
- 1746-1760: Records less complete, many students identifiable only by surname
- 1760-1790: More systematic record-keeping, better biographical data
- 1765-1790: Peak period, most comprehensive records
Biographical detail availability:
- ~60% have confirmed dates of attendance
- ~40% have identifiable career information
- ~25% have detailed biographical entries
- ~15% have published works attributed
Sample Entries
William Withering (England, 1762-1766)
- M.D. Edinburgh 1766
- Later physician in Birmingham
- Published An Account of the Foxglove (1785)
- Introduced digitalis to medical practice
Benjamin Rush (Pennsylvania, 1766-1768)
- M.D. Edinburgh 1768
- Founding Father of the United States
- Signer of Declaration of Independence
- Established American medical education on Edinburgh model
John Morgan (Pennsylvania, 1760-1761)
- M.D. Edinburgh 1763
- Founded first medical school in America (Pennsylvania, 1765)
- Director General, Medical Service, Continental Army
Related Resources
Cullen's Teaching:
- His lecture notes survive in dozens of student notebooks
- Published First Lines of the Practice of Physic (1776-1784)
- Synopsis Nosologiae Methodicae (1769)
Other Student Databases:
- Database of Scottish medical students at Leiden
- Medical students at other European universities
Research Applications
This database enables research into:
- Geographic patterns of student recruitment
- Career outcomes by social class and origin
- The spread of specific medical theories and practices
- Formation of transatlantic medical networks
- Social history of medical professionalization
Acknowledgments
This database incorporates data originally compiled by Lisa Rosner and made available through the University of Edinburgh. Additional research and verification conducted 2023-2025.
Database Status
Current progress:
- ✅ Core dataset compiled (3,000+ records)
- ✅ Data cleaning and verification ongoing
- ⏳ Biographical enhancement in progress
- ⏳ Interface development
- ⏳ Network visualization features
Target launch: Mid 2026
For questions or to contribute biographical information about Cullen's students, please contact me.