Physicians and surgeons in the early decades of the Nineteenth Century in Brazil

Abstract

The Fisicatura-mor (1808-1828) was the government body responsible for regulating the healing arts and licensing practitioners in early nineteenth-century Brazil. An analysis of its case files sheds light on the medical practice and profiles of physicians and surgeons in Rio de Janeiro and other cities where the Fisicatura-mor maintained a presence. Based primarily on these records, the article explores such matters as relations between surgeons authorized to practice internal medicine and physicians, the knowledge required to obtain a license, appointments to offices within the Fisicatura-mor, practitioners’ geographic mobility, and how they charged and collected for services rendered.