Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1888-04-19

Vic CdI ODldlIl course DOlQ
public and private on every con-
ceivable branch of medicine. The
material or patients which are
used to illustrate and instruct in
these courses is almost unlimited
in Vienna on account of the exist
ing condition of the poor. Vienna
exceeds any other school in the
world in the teaching Of general
medicine by the means of these
private courses. The men who
give them become very skillful in
teaching as they give them year
after year, generally, until they
become called to fill a Professors
chair in another university or in
that Of Vienna. The courses last
from 4 to 8 weeks and cost from
81 to $50 apiece. Scarcely any
theory is taught in them but each
course is illustrated by a large num-
Der of patients who are examined
and trusted by the men in the
course. For example course is
made up of 6 or 8 doctors which
will last 2 hours daily for a month
and will cost $40. AS many pa
tents are examined and treated in
that time as the doctors can get
through with. A patient is
brought before the class what is
the matter with the patient and
what treatment must he receive"
The doctors fingers, his eyes and
his ears get practical training on
patients under short criticism. If
he makes a mistake the other g
or 8 doctors stand ready to cor
rect it and the sharp eye of the
instructor allows few errors to
creep in. 1t is safe to state that
physician can learn more in year
in Vienna than he can in many
years of private practice and he
will also learn things which it is
almost impossible to learn in
assistants of Ist End and 3rd class
In the wards of each of these
professors there are over 5000
children born year. About
10000 children are born in the hos
pital annually. A doctor can
place himself under one of those
professors and see s to II child
rem born daily. The children are
all born in one room and then
mother and child removed to the
wards. All the complications and
difficulties which arise in the vast
practice Of 10 births a day can be
witnessed and participated in by
the doctor. Famed mid-wives
remain in the room night and day.
Doctors specially prepared for
this work are on hand at all times
to over come and explain difficult
ties. Thus a doctor can become
very familiar by remaining g
months and witnessing some 1900
births with their accompanying
difficulties. Then the professor
will generally have in his wards
about 100 babies to attend.
Almost all the diseases of baby
hood can be seen and treated in
short time. Other departments
are equally valuable. There are
4 professors Of surgery. Each
professor operates 2 hours day,
generally. One can see operations
4 to 6 hours daily of all conceiv-
able purposes. The hospital is all
in one place and one can walk
from one professors clinic to an
other in a few minutes. The
professor discusses the science of
surgery, its aims and limits as
applicable to each case to be
operated on. Short lectures on
each case are given as to the best
methods and why the case is
operated on. Also besides these
clinics, on smaller surgery are held
where the student is taught to
examine and treat.
Every department of the vast
hospital is thus divided and man
aged. The professor of nervous
diseases with his assistants treat
1000 patients year, and one can
see all those treated. Of course
these kind of patients do not pay
for treatment. The thousands of
cases of disease of heart and lungs
are splendidly taught here. Here
one can see all the wrecked brains
and spinal cords that imprudence
and disease has made and this
does not include insane patients
who are in separate institution
The skin clinics are the finest in
the world. The departments of
children, eye and ear are very vast
and have in them doctors from
every nation to study the methods
of Vienna. It is an unfortunate
thing that the Americans do not
have similar institutions. The
American has more money and |
is equally capable of teaching
medicine. Then the American
physicians would not leave home |
by the hundreds every year to