Medical Directories

Introduction

American Medical Association's Deceased Physician Masterfile  --  National Medical Directories  --  State and City Medical Directories  --  Local Medical Societies --  Government/Military Physicians  --  Finding More

Directories (or registers, membership lists) are intended to list everyone in the profession or professional organization at a certain time, usually with specialty and contact information. This page lists national examples in chronological order. 

About medical directories: Directories and their varied uses (Medical Heritage Library)

For medical school alumni directories see the Medical School Publications page.

Physicians and nurses may be mentioned in hospital annual reports and other publications. Find them by name in local catalogs or WorldCat. For hospital directories search: Hospitals directories.

Characteristics: Medical Directories

  • Usually include name, address only; sometimes with medical degree
  • Typically published serially
  • Maybe be national and general; or local and or specialized

City Directories

City directories can be used to obtain a list of all physicians for a community or to verify the presence of a particular person. See city directories page.

American Medical Association's Deceased Physician Masterfile

A card file of AMA members and other physicians compiled from information obtained from national directories, state/county medical societies, licensing boards and other sources with added death dates.  Very complete 1906-1968, though it extends back through 19th century.  Used as source for the AMA directory, 1906- . More information

• Searchable (by name) and browsable at FamilySearch (free registration required).

Early portion published as:
Directory of Deceased American Physicians, 1804-1929: A Genealogical Guide to over 149,000 Medical Practitioners Providing Brief Biographical Sketches Drawn from the American Medical Association's Deceased Physician Masterfile, ed. by A. W. Hafner. 2 vols. Chicago, IL: American Medical Association, 1993. In Ancestry.com (individual or institutional login).
--Brief biographical sketches of over 149,000 deceased medical practitioners. Indexes African-American, female, eclectic, homeopathic, and osteopathic practitioners.

National Medical Directories

Published since 1874, national medical directories offer much less biographical information than the biographical dictionaries and who’s whos but aim at being exhaustive in scope. They list physicians by city/town with details like medical college, year of graduation/licensure.

More extensive volumes also tend to include national, state and local military and government offices and officers; medical colleges, libraries, societies and journals; hospitals, homes, institutions and dispensaries; laws related to the practice of medicine; even lists of health resorts and mineral springs.

General Medical Directories (National)

American Academy of Family Physicians ... membership directory of members of record (print only). 1973- . | WorldCat Record
--Previously American Academy of General Practice. Membership directory with constitution and by-laws (print only), 1949-1971. Kansas City, Mo. | WorldCat Record

American College of Physicians. Biographical Directory of American College of Physicians, 1979 (print only). New York: Bowker, 1979. 1905 pp.
--Previously American College of Physicians Directory, 1949-. (print only). Philadelphia.
--Membership Roster, 1943-1948 (print only). Chicago. | WorldCat Record
--Directory, 1929-1942 (print only), Philadelphia | WorldCat Record
--Year book, 1924-1928 [online 1923/24 only]. Chicago. | WorldCat Record

American College of Surgeons, Yearbook (print only), 1974-
--Previously Directory (print only), 1953-1971
--Year book,  [online 1915-1924] 1915-1952. | WorldCat Record
--List of the Fellows, 1913-1914. | WorldCat Record

Directory of physicians in the United States (print only). Chicago, Ill.: Division of Survey and Data Resources, American Medical Association, 1992-2011. 40 v.
--1 vol., 1906-1967; 3 v., 1969; 4 v., 1973-2011.
--Previously American Medical Directory [1906-1921 online]. Chicago: American Medical Association, 1st-32nd ed., 1906-1990. | WorldCat Record
--Early editions list medical schools, societies, journals, and libraries.
--1911 ed. includes
      No. of physicians by states, territories provinces
      AMA officers and organizational info
      Lists of:
           National and special societies
           Medical officers of government service and of Pension Department
           Medical colleges (and licensing bodies (UK/Ireland)) worldwide
           Medical libraries
           Medical journals
           Members of special societies
           Physicians directory by state and city, including Canada, Canal Zone, Puerto Rico, Philippines
           Index by name

Directory of women physicians in the U.S. (print only) Chicago, American Medical Association. 2 eds. 1973, 1979.
--Sorted alphabetically and geographically.

Flint's Medical and Surgical Directory of the United States and Canada, by A.L. Chatterton. New York: J.B. Flint & Co., 1897, 1026 pp. | WorldCat Record
--Intended as annual, but only 1897 appeared. Still a substantial record of the era.

The Medical Register and Directory of the United States. systematically arranged by states : comprising names, post office address, educational and professional status of more than fifty thousand physicians : with lists of medical societies, colleges, hospitals and other medical institutions, with abstracts of medical laws of each state, notices of mineral springs, etc., by Samuel Worcester Butler. Philadelphia: Office of the Medical and Surgical Reporter, 1874, 854 pp. |  WorldCat Record
2nd ed. 1877, 868 pages. | WorldCat Record
”2nd.ed”, 1880, 874 pp. | WorldCat Record

Medical and surgical directory of the United States (1886-1917) (1902-1917). Detroit: Polk & Co., 1886-. | WorldCat Record

Title varies:
1890-96, Medical and surgical register of the United States, 2nd-4th ed.
1898, Medical and surgical register of the United States and Canada, 5th ed.
1900, Polk's medical and surgical register of the United States and Canada, 6th ed.
1902, Polk's medical register and directory of the United States and Canada,  7th ed.
1904-1917, Polk's medical register and directory of North America, 8th-14th ed.
--1898 and later editions include Canada

The Official American Board of Medical Specialties directory of board certified medical specialists (print only). New Providence, NJ: Marquis Who’s Who, 1994-2012
--Collection of the individual ABMS directories of certified specialists, which are also issued separately.
--1993- represents merger of two previous ABMS directories:
----Directory of medical specialists holding certification by American specialty boards (print only). Chicago [etc.] Published for the American Board of Medical Specialties by Marquis Who's Who, 1939-1973.  Titled: Directory of medical specialists (print only), 1975-1992 .
----American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) compendium of certified medical specialists (print only). Evanston, Ill. : American Board of Medical Specialties, 1st ed. (1986-1987)-3rd ed. (1990-1991).
           --4th ed. titled:The Official ABMS directory of board certified medical specialists (print only), 1992-1993.

The Standard medical directory of North America. Including a directory of practicing physicians in the United States of America, Canada, Cuba, Mexico, and Central America. Also directories respectively of medical officers of the U.S. Army and Navy, medical societies, medical colleges, medical laws and boards, medical publications, (books and periodicals), hospitals and sanitariums, mineral springs, drugs and medicines, medical and surgical products, manufacturers, life insurance companies, etc. Chicago : G.P. Engelhard, 1902, 924 p. | WorldCat Record
--Includes population records and data for US, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Central American States (Central America)

Nursing Directories

Directory of nurses with doctoral degrees (print only) . Kansas City, Mo.: American Nurses' Association, 1980?-1984.

Directory of nurse researchers (print only). Indianapolis, Ind.: Sigma Theta Tau, National Honor Society of Nursing, 1983-1999?

The National distinguished service registry in nursing (print only). Omaha, Neb. : U.S. Publications ; Kansas City, Mo.: American Nurses' Association, 1988- (1988 only?)

Continues
National registry of certified nurses in advanced practice (print only) .Kansas City, Mo.: American Nurses' Association,  1987.

International directory of nurses with doctoral degrees (print only). New York: American Nurses' Foundation, 1973?. 
--About 960 biographies obtained from the American Nurses' Foundation and national nursing organizations belonging to the International Council of Nurses. Entries, arranged alphabetically, cover personal, academic, and professional information. Geographical, field of interest, and Ph. D. subject indexes.

Directory of certified nurses (print only). Kansas City, Mo. American Nurses' Assn., 1975?-1986?

National directory of certified nurses in advanced practice (print only). Washington, DC: American Nurses Credentialing Center, 1995-?

Cornell & Shober's directory of trained nurses: Greater New York and Philadelphia. [1895; 1900/1901 online]. New York: Cornell & Shober. 1894-1901. |  WorldCat Record
--Title, authors, publisher vary

Hodges' New York City nurses directory. New York: Hodges Publishing Co., 1916, 48 pages | WorldCat Record

Local Medical Societies

Directories of individual local medical societies are important for before the late 19th century.

A list of medical societies (p. 344-346) is included in "Literature and institutions", by J. S. Billings, (pp. 291-366) in A century of American medicine. 1776-1876, by Edward H. Clarke et al. Philadelphia: H. C. Lea, 1876, 366 p.  | HathiTrust

To find them in library catalogs and WorldCat:

Medicine -- Societies, etc.  often with no Directories
Physicians -- Massachusetts.
Med. Subject :Societies, Medical.
Physicians -- Massachusetts -- Directory.

Government/Military Physicians

Physicians are employed in several government agencies.  Registers and directories are available

General

Portal to Editions of the Official Register of the United States, 1816-1959

For more general directories of government officials and military personnel see Finding Biographical Information (Harvard University guide).

Civil War

The medical and surgical history of the war of the rebellion, (1861-65). Prepared, … under the direction of Surgeon General, Joseph K. Barnes, United States Army. Washington, Govt. Print. Off.,  3 v. In 6. 1870-88. | WorldCat Record

Reprinted with indexes as:
The Medical and surgical history of the Civil War (print only). Wilmington, N.C.: Broadfoot Publishing Co., 1990-1992. 12 v.

Provisional record of Confederate medical officers. Raleigh, NC: Confederate Veterans Committee, Medical Society, NC 1890, 57 pp. | WorldCat Record

Union Civil War Physicians offers brief information (rank, regiment, place of birth/death, date of birth/death, residence, schools attended) on Civil War Union surgeons. When complete will include regimental, US army surgeons, contract or additional assistant surgeons, nurses and surgeons employed by the United States Sanitary Commission and United States Christian Committee.

Roster of all regimental surgeons and assistant surgeons in the late war, with their service, and last-known post-office address. Comp. from official records by N.A. Strait ... for use of United States Pension Office. [Washington?] 1882, 320 p. | WorldCat Record
(CIS Executive Branch Documents, 1789-1909 : nos. W4413-18 to W4413-19).

Army

Quarterly report of medical officers, United States Army, with their stations and duties, as reported to the Surgeon General (print only). Washington : Surgeon-General's Office, 1874-1885
--Began with Apr. 1, 1874? Ceased with Jan. 1, 1885.;

Quarterly station-list of officers of the Medical Department and hospital stewards, United States Army (print only). Washington: Surgeon General's Office, 1885-1886?
Began with Apr. 1, 1885.
(CIS Executive Branch Documents, 1789-1909 : nos. W4413-18 to W4413-19).

Available in ProQuest Congressional (Institutional login), 1885-1886

Station list of officers of Medical Department and hospital stewards of Hospital Corps, U.S. Army (print only).  United States.; Army Medical Department, 1887-1894, 15 pages
No reports were issued for 1890.  Title varies slightly
(CIS Executive Branch Documents, 1789-1909 : nos. W4413-20 to W4413-27).

Public Health Service

Official list of commissioned and noncommissioned officers of the Public Health and Marine-Hospital Service of the United States; also, list of U.S. marine hospitals, quarantine stations, and quarantine vessels [1907-1946 incomplete] [1906] Miscellaneous publication (United States. Public Health Service) | WorldCat Record

Finding More

Identifying relevant medical directories:

The list below is a partial one. For additional, and more specialized, medical directories, search your local library catalog and/or WorldCat.  

Many are not available in full text online. Find them by subject or region in your local library catalog and/or WorldCat or in bibliographies.

Enter Library of Congress Subject Headings with biographical subdivisions in the main search box.

For example:Massachusetts Medical Society -- Directories. Physicians -- Massachusetts -- Directories. Physicians -- Ohio – Cleveland

A search in HathiTrust Advanced Search often works well. For example:

this exact phrase: Cushing, Harvey in Full Text + All Fields
AND
any of these words: Directories Directory in Subject

If sufficient material is not found via HathiTrust, search your local online catalog and/or WorldCat. Use Library of Congress Subject Headings with biographical subdivisions.  For example: Massachusetts AND Physicians AND (directory OR directories) (use director*) yields Massachusetts Medical Society : a catalogue of its officers, fellows, and licentiates.