The article describes research on the application of the Anglo-American concept of professionalism to the medical history of pre-revolutionary Russia (1856‒1917). Approaches to the study of professions in the UK and the US are described, Western literature’s views are presented, in which the history of pre-revolutionary Russian medicine has been studied in line with the concept of professionalism, the experience of its application in relation to the medical history of pre-revolutionary Russia is discussed, the prospects for the use of this concept in relation to the country’s history of medicine is assessed as well.