Surgeons did not formally divorce their specialty from barbers until 1540, when King Henry VIII of E

Surgeons did not formally divorce their specialty from barbers until 1540, when King Henry VIII of England issued a royal decree separating the two professions. According to the decree, surgeons should no longer be bar­bers, and barbers should restrict surgery to dentistry. In­ternal medicine lagged behind surgery during this period. 

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