Investigating How to Issue the First Medical Certifications of Hamedan Doctors in the Qajar Era

 Qājār's physicians, who were inheritors of their predecessors' traditional medicine, had a low level of knowledge regarding diagnosis; relying on their experience, they treated through trial and error. There was not any specific association to supervise physicians' performance and issue medical license. Things changed gradually with the beginning of Nāser al-Din Shah's reign and Amir Kabir coming to power. Testing and selection of doctors were then put on the agenda by the professionals. The plan, however, was not coherently pursued until constitutional revolution and the national consultative assembly formation allowed it to be legalized. Hence the physicians were examined within a special framework and medical licenses were issued for them according to the criteria of Education Department. After in Dar al-Caliphate, the plan was implemented in other provinces of Iran, including Hamedan. The present article is going to study how the first certifications of doctors in Qājār era were issued and answer that what documents were required for physicians of Hamedan to get the license and how these certifications affected the changes in medical profession in Hamedan during this period.

 Using library and documental resources and a historical and descriptive approach, this study has analyzed the subject.

Ethical Considerations:

 In the current study, the ethics of the library and documentary study include authenticity of the references and constancy and confidetiality of the remarks.

 The results illustrate that the first formal medical licenses in Hamedan have been issued by being educated in Yengi-Donyayi school of Hamedan and through the physicians' experience, selection of doctors in Education Commission and the fame among people and well-known doctors.

 The implemention of medicine's law seems to have a positive effect on medical changing and doctors' efforts in Hamedan to acquire enough knowledge for providing modern and efficient medical services.