The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-01-03
MEDICAL STUDY FOR WOMEN.
JUST WHAT GIRL MUST DO TO
BECOME A PHYsICIAN.

JUST WHAT a 6AHL "CoA Nv AZ
BECOME A PHTsICIAN'
The Aavantages and Disadvantages OF the
| Prose salon ms Livelihood for Her The
Chances or Success aaA the Psy-How
Men Doctors View tho Inroads Woman IL
Makine-Institutions that Aduit Women.
From q girl in distant Southern hamlet
comes the following inquiry:
Tell me exactly what must do TO prepare myself for
| the practice OF medicine. How long must study.
| where and how much will It cost Also. what are .
woman's chances Of successf
| First OF all, the requisites for entering upon
the study OF medicine IRE record OF eigh-
| teen birthdays, a regents certificate or a COL
| lege diploma from an institution OF repute.
and an unlimited reserve force OF pluck. deter
mination. and practical common sense. The
woman's inherent sympathetic temperament
| is in her medical career double disadvan-
tage. 1t initiates against success In that
| her patients demand and receive In many
cases too much OF her nerve force.
| and In her efforts to counteract It's tendencies
| the pendulum swings to the other ex-
| treme and makes her sometimes inhumanly
cruel and cold. There are women surgeons
| that have performed needlessly heroic opera
| lions before which mon old in the profession
nave SnuuueTeu. lneTo nave De6u Hduueu
into tho medical societies records OF heroic
! treatment and amputation which were re-
| ceived In dead silence by the savants assem-
| bled simply because those who reported them
| were women. And when any woman atrophies
| the womanly instincts so fatally as to neglect
| her own child In her zeal for her profession.
| she binders tho cause she would help and JUS
| titles tho criticism Of her opposers. 1t is
| with view Of correctin. this temperamentnl
| tendency. and because the girl student is not.
as a rule, so we'll prepared In the preliminary
intellectual training as man. that two of the
New York city colleges have made q three
years course OF study obligatory. conservu-
tive measure as yct adopted in few mems col
leges Besides this the woman student is re-
| quired to be present during the entire yearly
| term. there being no unimportant spring term
| from which she Is excused. as In the mems
schools. She is examined each year. instead
| OF at the end OF her course. thus enabling her
to make good any deficient branch. Her final
| examination is conducted By experts uncon-
nected with the college. The faculty in each
OF the New York colleges is made up Of men
| and women. the dean and registrar In each
college being women.
| The expenses attendant upon medical study
depend largely upon the economy Of the stu
dent. Tho essential college fees during the
| course OF three years are q little less than
| $500 in both colleges. Board is obtained from
IS to SO per week. and the girl bachelor who
comes on with the spirit Of tho martyrs and the
| doggedness OF the crusaders usually shuts
herself up In a cold hall bedroom. starves on
crackers and bad tea made over an oil
stove. and II she doesn't die man.
ages to exist on considerably less than
either figure. There is not as much
| club life and cooperation us is found among
1 Init inc fap racord nj
girls keeping house in companies. However.
it is difficult for girl OF refinement and deli
| cacy to support herself hero and pay tho
| necessary car fare. laundry and board bills
| on less than So or SO week. and for the
three years course. including books. but not
including clothing. an expense Of from 81 800
| to $1,000 Is inevitable. AS far as clothing is
concerned. the girl medical student is inclined
to be plain dresser. her garb not in any sense
eccentric or untidy. but simple and unimpres-
sive in kind. There are few exceptions. very
much corseted and very stylish in appearance.
| among the students. and there are few wear
ers OF the distinctively rational dress. A much
higher grade OF intellect and character is found
| among the students during the later years.
| owing to the extended terms OF the college
work. which ef1ectually discourages shallow
seekers after notoriety in professions and also
to the modern idea OF educating women and
preparing them seriously for a profession.
The typical medical student OF the day Is n
we'll balanced. we'll educated. ambitious young
woman who comes to the school with her col
lege diploma as voucher for her Intellectual
ability. and determination to practise med-
cine not until she marries. but until she retires
covered with riches and honor in her old age.
Just as her brother takes up his profession or
calling. She is, as rule. a moro serious
and conscientious student than the average
man. and il opportunity were given for
comparison she would probably pass quite as
well in examinations. The old tradition OF wo-
mans inferior intellect no longer obtains.
Men OF good judgment acknowledge the supe-
rior quick ness and brightness OF the woman s
brain. 1t is in practical application that she
fails. II at all. and it Is the lack Of physical
strength. the demands OF conventionalIty. the
inheritance Of facilitating restraints. and tho
| prejudice which subjects her to unfair crit-
cism, that handicap her in the race.
| After the student has devoted a month to
the study OF anatomy she begins her work in
| the dissectng room. spending from three to
five hours over the cadaver. There is no
smoking. no reinforcing with brandy no
faintng or fussing. and no cheap and vulgar
joking in the woma's dssectinG room. Tho
delicate manipulation Of womnn's hand
enables her to do fine and exact
work on the subject submitted to her
after the first shudder at cutting tho dead
fesn is over. 1t cannot be denied that tho
work. while it Is fascinating from scientific
point. is little less conGenial than embroider-
ing tides and stitching frills, but there arc
| few men who wouldn't east q trout fly In pref
erence to q issccting decayed human muscles.
The distinctive feature OF the third years
course is the clinictl instruction given, at the
hospitals and dispcusarios. All the city dis
| pnnSnrieS ara open to women students. ard
The Bellevue osptal clinical lectures. and the
lectures and surgical operations at the New
York. preshyteriun. Mount Sinai, and Gouyer-
ncur Hospitals and tho New York and Nam
haitian Eye and Ear lnirmuries are open
70 auopathic students institution. The stu
, druts OF the homeopathic school receive
instruction ut the Wards Island hospital. the
New York Ophthalmic, and the Laura Fran kiln
| Free Hospital. as well as in the college hos
| pitul.
Having graduated from the colleges. students
| have advantages for study in post graduate
courses by Ioining so.called clinics OF famous;
| physicians and by membership III several
medical societies. As for the much coveted
hospital practice. woman's advantages are en-
pital in connection with the college has -