The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1867-07-13
Report 'Of the Committee Oh
Medical Instruction.
Adopted by the Haw. Evangelical Assoc
citation, June, 1867.


citation, June, 1867.
The Committee appointed to report upon the
subject Of training some of the natives to the
medical profession, beg leave to report,
That in our opinion the subject is of the great
est Importance. Ii has been too long delayed for
the want of any practical plan by which it could
be accomplished In the opinion of your Com
nittee, there is and has been greater need Of
native doctors than of native lawyers. The Mis-
sonaries have educated the native pastors, with
what success their presence in this assembly
testifes. The native lawyers have educated them
selves. BY having the laws printed to his hand
any active educated native could read for himself
and in some degree qualify himself to plead on
behalf of his neighbor before the Courts, but the
medical profession, has been like n sealed book,
mas had no book at all, which is the same thing
Sickness, pain and death are our common lot,
but it is not in human nature to suffer without
some effort to obtain relief. There was time
when a large proportion of the population applied
to the Missionaries for medical aid. The funds
OF the American Board were largely drawn upon
for medicines, and the Missionaries devoted n
great deal of time in attendance the sick, with
such skill they possessed and with great bene-
fit To the people Subsequently the Hawaiian
Government undertook to furnish the Missiona-
ries with medicines for the sick; of late years
this source of relief has dried up, and even the
voluntary practice of the Missionaries has been
dseounteanced. In places where there no
educated physicians. there has arisen class Of
native doctors, who, with n license signed by
"Kapu,' have undertaken 10 sare The nation.
These persons are mostly old men and old
women, who have very little education and no
knowledge of medicine whatever. Ignorant of
the pIainest rules of diet and regimen, they are
not prc7er nurses Of the sick but depend
upon luck and chance, large promises of cure,
ard their influence with the old heathen gods,
whose worship they have in a certain degree :. to
4 depOrable extent" reviye,l for the purpose of
obtaining an influence their victim.
These doctors and doetoresses finding their
practice profitable are now everywhere found pro-
claiming their own skill, interfering with and
opposing the practice of foreign physicians and
disseminating false and idolatrOus principles
among the people. They kill numbers Of the
Kings subjects Some killed by neglect.
The disease il left To its course, while the doctor
j. trusting TO luck and feasting on the hogs, the
white cocks, the poi, the ava, which he requires
n condition of cure. Meanwhile he is going
with his incantations- Some sick are killed
by a more summary process, by the administra-
ton of remedies, such crotOn oil and castor
oil beans, coarse kind of jjalap, species o
colocynth tartar emctic, calomel, gunpowdcr &c
without any rules To guide the doctor, other than
his uneducated Judgment.
1t being admitted that there is pressing ne
E,ra Of
pupils to meet the wants of the people and Il
check the serious and rapidly growing evil abov,
stated, the question arises how and by whom il
is to he done Your Committee are of opinion
that the education required need not be of a very
high order, but simple course should be gon'
through which would qualify the pupils TO b,
good nurses and tOlerably safe practitioners. L
should be conducted in the Hawaiian language
by one more medical men who understand th
language, and acquainted with the prejudice
and supcrstitions of the people Pupils wher
educated should be distributed all over the islands
at least two IN every election district, license,
to practice and authorized TO charge for thei
services according to schedule to be provide,
for their guidance They should be under
constant supervision
In the opinion of your Committee, the Queen
Hospital affords the greatest facilities for IN
kind of instruction required, much of whic
would be in the form of clinical lectures whic
the pupils should commit to writing. If tn
trustees of that Institution could he induce
to undertake the work. there are medical me
who might afford valuable aid in preparing sim
pie books and treatIses in the Hawaiian, which TN
Board of Education might be willing to hav
printed for the use of the pupils.
Private persOns-Inembcrs of the medical pre-
iession-may, perhaps, be found who would tax
one or two pupils, but the difficulties and c,
Pense would be so great. and the probability
perseverance on the part of the pupils themsev,
would be 50 small, that not much can be expectc
from this source. Ii is desirable, in an ente
prise of this nature, that the system should 7
uniform AMI perseyercd in for Il term Of years, b
additions 10 the stock of Hawaiian medical know
edge and literature, which would be required
the pupils after entering upon their practice
There are some persons whose opinions are d
serving of the highest consideration, who wou
decidedly object to the licensing of medical pupi
who have not had the advantage of an educltiC
in the English language, and course OF two
medical lectures in foreign country, but yol