The disciplines of information: Lessons from the history of the discipline of medicine

In this research commentary we show that the discipline of information systems (IS) has much that can be learned from the history of the discipline of medicine. We argue that as interest in historical studies of information systems grows, there are important historical lessons to be drawn from disciplines other than IS, with the medical discipline providing fertile ground. Of particular interest are the circumstances that surrounded the practice of the medical craft in the 1800's-circumstances that drove a process of unification and specialization resulting in the modern conceptualization of medical education, research, and practice. In analyzing the history of the field of medicine, with its long-established methods for general practice, specialization, and sub-specialization we find that it serves as an example of a discipline that has dealt effectively with its initial establishment as a scientific discipline, exponential growth of knowledge and ensuing diversity of practice over centuries, and has much to say in regards to a number of discipline-wide debates of IS. Our objective is to isolate the key factors that can be observed from the writings of leading medical historians, and examine those factors from the perspective of the information systems discipline today. Through our analysis we identify the primary factors and structural changes which preceded a modern medical discipline characterized by unification and specialization. We identify these same historic factors within the present-day information systems milieu and discuss the implications of following a unification and specialization strategy for the future of the disciplines of information.