Hello, one of our lecturers is a professor in the history of medicine department and she has kindly taken me on to conduct a history research project under her guidance because I became very fascinated in the field of history. I have done and published research in the past but in another field, molecular biology, so I do not know the steps to conduct a humanities research project. Before seeing her more I'd like to do some preliminary work to have some tangible product to discuss. I have found this http://dohistory.org/on_your_own/toolkit/research.html website to be helpful as a guide. My university also offers access to historical journals but I am not sure if there is access to primary sources which I would need. Could anyone who has an experience doing a primary research project in history (or even better history of medicine) give me some tips and hints on how to proceed so I could have something to show my professor? Thank you greatly.
I have had some experience with this, and I can tell you that a knowledge of medicine and human health can be extremely valuable when working with primary sources, particularly since most historians don't have a great background in the field. I knew a retired doctor who a made a point of dealing with all sorts of local issues from the history of doctors in the area to references to diseases and cures in local primary sources.
Once I had several nursing students who needed "just one more upper division credit to graduate." They took a quick class I was offering, believing that they would bomb for want of experience in the humanities. They examined a local death record that included causes of death, and each wrote wonderful papers on various illnesses they found. With a little work they could have published their results, but they were too eager to follow their careers, saving lives and alleviating suffering rather than doing something important like writing history.
I also edited a collection of Gold Rush-era letters, which had many references to health and medicine. Another of my students, another retired MD, was extraordinarily helpful in helping me understand the uses being described.
These are just a few examples of the sorts of things that can be done. I would be asking what sort of primary sources are in your backyard - historical societies or archives. These are the places one is likely to find unexplored gems, and you stand a good chance to cast these documents in new light with new understanding - even if they have been discussed by historians who looked for other insights. I assure you that you could do great work with your background.
/u/TravellingTroubadour has some excellent suggestions about how to get started, so I needn't repeat those insights.
Best wishes
Just one tip that I've used when looking for primary sources is to go through a journal, book, or an article on your topic, and look at the footnotes to see where they obtained their information. From this you can hunt down, primary sources through online archives. So definitely go through articles on your topic, and follow the footnotes. Also make sure not to make your topic too big.