The journal was established in 1977 by
Arthur Kleinman (
Harvard University), who was
editor-in-chief until 1986. Kleinman was succeeded by
Byron Good (Harvard University), with
Mary-Jo DelVecchio Good (Harvard University) serving as co-editor from 1992 through 2004. In 2004, Anne Becker (
Harvard Medical School) and Peter J. Guarnaccia (
Rutgers University), became co-editors-in-chief and served until 2007. They were succeeded in 2007 by Atwood D. Gaines (
Case Western Reserve University), who brought on Managing Editor Brandy L Schillace (
Case Western Reserve University). At that time, a range of new categories of scholarly contributions were introduced (Circumstantial Deliveries, Illness Narratives, Communiqués, Opinions, and Cultural Case Studies), in addition to the regular research articles. The scope of the journal was also expanded to include not only the social sciences of medicine but also the histories and philosophies of medicine and science and bioethics. In addition, the journal hosted a medical humanities special issue in December 2012 and continues to seek medical history and medical humanities works in addition to other related content. In 2019, Rebecca J. Lester (
Washington University in St. Louis) assumed the role of editor-in-chief. == Scope ==