Book dossier

East African Doctors. A History of the Modern Profession

by John Iliffe

John Iliffe's latest book is the first history of an African medical profession in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania from the earliest training of modern medical staff in the 1870s to the present day. Based on extensive research and dealing exclusively with African doctors, it offers a new understanding of professionalisation in the Third World. It describes the recruitment and education of doctors, their understanding and practice of modern medicine, their struggle for international recognition of their qualifications, their efforts to develop East African medical systems after independence, and their experiences during a period of political and economic difficulty.