Kindred Research 2: Medicine Long ago, diseases were spread rapidly amongst the country, and the lack of medical advancements did not leave much room for survival. Physicians were nowhere near as skilled as they are today, yet they were still important as they were the only hope for treatments. It has always been debatable, however, whether slaves had access to the same amount of medical attention as their owner. Despite the controversy, slaves were not subjected to the same medical attention for many reasons. For one, the doctors best interests were with the owners rather than the slaves themselves (“Birthing a Slave”). That being said, the doctors would only take account of the owner 's wishes, which created a barrier between doctors