Changes in Health and Medicine in Britain, c.1340 to the Present Day

What you'll learn

How medicine and health changed over nearly 700 years.

Key themes

• Medieval ideas: the Four Humours and miasma; the Black Death.
• Breakthroughs: Jenner (vaccination), Pasteur (germ theory), Lister (antiseptics), Fleming (penicillin).
• The founding of the NHS (1948).

Exam tips

• Explain the factors driving progress (science, war, government).
• Track change and continuity.

Common mistakes

• Confusing Jenner, Pasteur and Lister.
• No explanation of causes of change.