Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-10

ceived. Hundreds of young men take up
the study of medicine every year in Pitts
burg, and many an embryo physician is to:
day to be found in the stores and Offices of
this city, who will be only too glad when
his period of probation is over. so that he
can hang out his shingle and start in life as
full-fedged NJ. D.
When young man has made up his
mind that healing the sick is his vocation he
makes arrangement with some practicing
physician to study under his direction for
period of generally three years. In that
time he has the advantage of the physicians
medical library, and learns the principles
| OF his art. He must study anatomy, physi-
ology, pathology and dozens of other
branches of the complex science that he
must comprehend thoroughly before he can
take in his hands the lives of his patients.
Doesn't Experiment on Patients.
As soon as the student has learned the
names of the bones in the human frame,
and can talk intelligently about the various
organs of the body and the diseases to which
they are subject, he may be taken by the
physician to see some of the cases and to as
sist him in operations, etc. This assistance
consists only of holding sponges, towels,
bowls of water. and so forth, or performing
other small duties under the watchful eye
of his tutor. The popular delusion that
students are allowed to "practice" on
patients is indeed a delusion of the mSst
egregious nature. The young man who is
trying to learn the elements of his pro-
fession may keep his eyes open, and learn a
great deal in this way, and the doctor some
times points out peculiarities of the case,
and gives valuable instruction to his pupil
in the presence Of the patient without any,
one else being the wiser.
By the time the young man has spent two
years in this way he is we'll grounded in his
art, and he is then ready for his college
course. Medical colleges usually have ac-
cess to hospitals, and the students are
allowed to visit the latter and take advan-
tage Of the vast field of study afforded in
them. A clinic is demonstration of an
actual case of sickness with the patient
present
What a Man Must Nass.r.
A list of studies will give an idea of what
the student is expected to master before he
can become reliable doctor: Principles of
surgery and clinical surgery, principles and
practice of medicine, clinical medicine,
practice of surgery and clinical surgery,
diseases of women, genito-urinary and
venereal diseases, materis medica and
therapeutics, orthopaedic surgery, nervous
and mental diseases, diseases Of the skin,
legal medicine. diseases of the eye and ear,
obstetrics, diseases of children, diseases of
the nose and throat, anatomy, physical
diagnosis, physiology, chemistry, pathology
and histology.
There is the list, and it embraces about
everything that doctor need know. The
general knowledge of the laws of physics
should be possessed by the student primar-
various subjects, and is questioned as to his
understanding of what has been told him by
the professor. He is expected to read care
fully on the topics that are discussed in the
lectures, and to be able to give the pro-
fessor clear idea without bungling or
wasting words.
In the Disssoting Room. /
The e'dissecting room claims large share
of his attention. It Is here that he is
brought into contact with Subject" It
is here that, with rubber gloves or without
them, he takes knife and cuts away,
under the eye Of the demonstration, to make |
the secrets of nature plain to him. In |
Pittsburg the cost of body is $40 Most |
students buy "quarter of man" for SO |
and work away at it till there is nothing |
leit save refuse tuht ~ turOWu away anu
buried. That is, each student in class |
contributes SO. Although the first visit of |
q young man to dissecting room may give |
him thrill of horror and disgust, the stu |
dent is so interested in his work that he |
soon loses sight Of the unpleasant features |
Some Of the more enthusiastic of the stu
dents will not wear gloves. They take |
their chances of blood-poisoning and ope-
rate with their bare hands, and the |
fact that such cases are so exceedingly rare
proves that the danger is not so great as is
feared after all. The students pay $40 for
a dissection Zee, which includes the ''mate-
rial"> There is q false impression that
there Is great deal of coarse fun in dis
secting rooms. As a matter of fact, the
young men whose duty calls them there are
earnest seekers after knowledge, whose re-
spect for the human frame is increased
rather than lessened by their studies. They
realize, more than ordinary persons, how
fearfully and wonderfully we are made.
An Operation in a Hospital.
In the hospitals, when the students are
called to clinic, they take their places in
The operating theater and watch silently
ind with deep interest the proceedings of
he cool, .self-possessed men who WELD
leen knife with certainty and skill that
,uides them in exactly the right direction.
An incision one-sixteenth OF an inch one
way or the other may determine the life or
leath of the patient, and the doctor must
ut exactly in the right place or not at ALL
An operation, with perhaps 200 young
men looking on, is conducted so quietly
hat not sound is heard save the low voice
# the operator as he asks for this or that, or
more often signifies by a nod what he wants.
The students in most hospitals are sitting in
gaIlery-very Steep so that those in the e,