Medical Advances and Social Medicine

Belle Époque medicine evolved from individual treatment to public health. The tuberculosis campaigns exemplified this shift. Dr. Léon Bernard's dispensaries provided free diagnosis and treatment while educating about contagion. Posters warning "Don't Spit" appeared everywhere. The war against TB became social crusade.

Surgery advanced dramatically. Dr. Alexis Carrel, later controversial for eugenics views, pioneered vascular surgery and organ transplantation. His techniques for suturing blood vessels earned the 1912 Nobel Prize. Patients who would have died from hemorrhage survived. The impossible became routine.

Women physicians increased despite obstacles. Dr. Blanche Edwards-Pilliet, France's second female medical graduate, specialized in treating women and children who preferred female doctors. Dr. Madeleine Pelletier became France's first female psychiatrist, using her position to advocate for women's rights and challenge psychiatric assumptions about female "hysteria."

The birth control movement found medical allies. Dr. Fernand Merlin risked prosecution distributing contraceptive information. Dr. Jeanne Dubois-Richard taught working-class women about family limitation. They framed contraception as health issue rather than moral question, partially circumventing legal restrictions.

Mental health treatment slowly modernized. The old practice of chaining violent patients ended. Dr. Valentin Magnan developed classification systems distinguishing various mental illnesses. Occupational therapy replaced simple confinement. Yet asylums remained overcrowded, understaffed warehouses for society's unwanted.