The Best Medical History & Breakthroughs Documentaries

Health & the Body - 16 free documentaries about medical history & breakthroughs.

Start with The Drug Trial That Went Horribly Wrong (58 min, Real Stories), then Medical Miracles with Ambien: Hamilton's Pharmacopeia (19 min, VICE). All 16 documentaries here are free to watch from their makers' official uploads. To read deeper, the top-rated book on medical history & breakthroughs is The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris.

• The Drug Trial That Went Horribly Wrong (58 min, Real Stories)
• Medical Miracles with Ambien: Hamilton's Pharmacopeia (19 min, VICE)
• The Journey of Humankind: Cheating Death | Origins (46 min, National Geographic)
• Recreating the world's first test for diabetes (21 min, NileRed)
• Dr. Daniel Hale Williams First Black Heart Surgeon In America (42 min, Timeline - World History Documentaries)
• How Electric Bandages Accelerate Healing (12 min, Real Science)
• Biological Warfare: The Rise of antibiotic-resistant Superbugs (48 min, ENDEVR)
• Why Are Antibiotics And Vaccines Failing Us? | The Battle Against Superbugs (48 min, Spark)
• The End of Polio & Collateral Damage (VICE on HBO: Season 4, Episode 12) (29 min, VICE)
• How Anaesthesia Was Discovered By Complete Accident (52 min, Spark)
• Edward Jenner: The Man Who Invented Vaccines (60 min, Spark)
• Facing Death Threats In Pakistan's Fight Against Polio | Reaching The Unreached (47 min, CNA Insider)
• The Vaccine to End the Pandemic? (13 min, Real Science)
• How We Deliver COVID Vaccines To Asia's Remotest People | Journey Of A Vaccine (47 min, CNA Insider)
• What an 1800s Wild West Pharmacy Taught me About Trust & Vaccines (11 min, BrainCraft)
• Covid vaccines are coming: What’s inside, and how and when you’ll get one I NOVA Now I PBS (27 min, NOVA PBS Official)

Top-Rated Books About Medical History & Breakthroughs

1. The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris - View on Amazon
2. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (4.2/5) - View on Amazon
3. The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee (4.1/5) - View on Amazon
4. The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson (4/5) - View on Amazon