In Middlemarch, Lydgate is the doctor and I have fallen very interested in what the doctors of that time used for there surgeries and other operations day-to-day. How safe was it and what practices did they use that just didn't help or work? In this artical a lot of the information it gives you is very intresting and tells you a lot about the doctors in that time. 

19th-century doctors in the U.S.

https://melnickmedicalmuseum.com/2009/03/11/19th-century-doctors-in-the-us/