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Professional Education In Medicine And Law: Structural Differences, Common Failings, Possible Opportunities, Roger C. Cramton

Cleveland State Law Review

Medicine and law emerged in the early decades of the twentieth century as strong, highly organized professions with high status, increasing rewards, and growing autonomy. Professional claims of esoteric knowledge, collegial solidarity, and disinterestedness were accepted by members of the profession and the general public. Professional schools in both disciplines forged university connections and achieved dominant positions in the preparation of new professionals. Patterns of medical and legal education established during this formative period, extending roughly from 1890 to 1920, have been highly persistent. Despite these similarities, educators in the two professions have proceeded in isolation from one another. There …