The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-06-20
HE MEDICAL SCHOOL.
interesting Report From President
Hyde,

| neport From President
| Hyde,
Inc annual report of President HYDE of
no"uoin college has just been made pub
~ anu contains on the subject of the
-ooao'on OF the medical school, some re-
1iorAs OF great interest to the city of
oi'naho. President Hyde refers to the
,"oO 'ha0 The medical school has grown to
nave merely nominal relation to the
| so'ernlng boards Of the college, who now
nave only to transact some routine bust
ness IN connection with it and to give an
occasional hearing on the proposition to
fehoVe the school to Portland 1t is
fortunate, he says, that under this loose
system, SO able faculty has been Sc
cured. The report says:
AS step towards restoring the intimate
: CIV responsible relation between the Med
loal school and the boards, which was
contemplated in the charter of the school;
as an absolutely essential step toward a
proper administration of the trust funds
wnicn are soon to come into the possession
qi the boards for the benefit of the school,
renew my recommendations of a year
ago, that the finances of the school be ad-
nlnlstered by the treasurer of the college
Mno Is the official agent of the boards;
tnaG the professors receive fixed salaries;
that the material needs of the school be
provided for by annual appropriations by
une boards. and that detailed report of
1ne condition and needs of the Medical
scnool be made tC the visiting committee
OF the boards at their annual meeting,
TWO weeks before commencement.
THE REMOVAL OF THE SCHOOL.
On the question of the removal of the
school, President Hyde says:
1t is an indisputable fact that the
present clinical facilities of the school are
inadequate. In important respects the
present operating room Is unfit for this
purpose. The school has no connection
with hospital a lack which seriously
lnterferes with the efficiency of clinical
instruction, and which, if allowed to
remain longer unremedied, will impair
the value of the schools degrees.
The remedy, he says, may be sought in
either of two directions. The school may
BIZ kept in Brunswick and a cottage
hospital with operating room connected
be erected, or the school may be removed
to Portland. AS reasons for adopting the
49, 0AAo VAIN p1duy IC51uOA6 AydO JuOll-
lions tho facilities afforded by the college
for many lines of work. The present
location has the advantage Of tradition
and association and "the intimate local
association of the school with the atmo-
sphere Of the college tends to impart a
more liberal tone and protect it from the
merely commercial spirit which too often
dominates the isolated professional
school," The cost of living in Bruins
wick would be somewhat less than in a
city.
AS reasons for removing the school to
Portland the report mentions the facili-
ties which it would be afforded by the
Maine General hospital, the tendency of
the time to concentrate in cities, the pro-
visional securing of land near the
hospital, the greater amount of material
for clinical purposes and the fact that the
faculty of the school are largely Portland
residents.
A CHANCE FOR PORTLAND.
President Hyde then suggests that the
settlement of the question might be made
dependent on the action taken by the
people of Portland and Brunswick in the
way of extending aid in providing the
needed facilities. He says:
Either of these plans would remedy the
immediate difficulty in which the school
is placed. The school will be consider
able advantage to the community il
which it may be located. III choosing be-
tween these two plans, the boards will
probably be Influenced to a considerable
extent by the desires of the two COM
munities as expressed in the form of
willingness to contribute to the erection
of suitable building. 1t would require
smaller sum to erect the cottage hospital
and operating room in Brunswick than
to buy the lot and erect laboratories,
lecture rooms, and all that would be re.
quired in Portland. Incidentallyrrthe cot
tage hospital at Brunswick would meet
the need of an infirmary, where the col
lego and medical students who are sick
can be properly cared for. On the other
hand, the erection of suitable building
in Portland would be safer permanent
provision for the unknown future de-
velopment of the Medical school in view
of the tendency of medical education, like
everything else, to concentration in cities.
The maintenance of the hospital in
Brunswick would be large source of ex
pense, and Brunswick is not large enough
to support a staff of resident surgeons
sufficient to make the hospital available
when the school Is not in session.
The boards at one time expressed a
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