Kenneth Ludmerer

While he was initially concerned that his practice would preclude him from continuing research in history, he decided to continue working in that field, later explaining that "it occurred to me that if physicians can leave the bedside to study molecular genetics, why couldn't they leave the bedside to study the origins of the profession and the historical roots of problems facing medicine?

[5] He faulted scientists for failing to correct public misperceptions even when these were acted on politically, as through immigration restrictions directed at ethnic groups characterized as being inferior.

Ludmerer particularly identifies the American Civil War as a transformative event, as the poor training of medical personnel in that era lead to many more deaths from disease than occurred in battle.

Ludmerer's third book, Time to Heal: American Medical Education from the Turn of the Century to the Era of Managed Care, was published by Oxford University Press in 1999.

It is essentially a sequel to Learning to Heal, using the same narrative style to address in detail the developments in medical education over the twentieth century, and particularly from the 1920s through the 1990s.

[2] In 2000, Ludmerer came under some criticism when it was learned that he received over half a million dollars over a fifteen-year period to testify as an expert witness on medical history on behalf of tobacco companies.