The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-12-21
Institutions I'm Which the City's Lead.
ing Practitioners Take an
Active Part.
STUDENTS HAVE PLENTY TO Do
STRENUOUS LIFE LED BY YOUNG MEN
WHO MUST WORK THEIR WAY.
Character Is at a Premium I'm These
Schools, and Only the Fittest
Stand the Test.

The medical schools in this city are In
creasng their Importance and their use
fulness. There are some $50 medical stu
dents In Indianapolis an overwhelming ma
jorty of whom are from other cities and
towns All the central States are well rep
resented, and some OF the students here
come from the far West The fact that our
own citizens do not send their sons in great
numbers TO the local colleges is explained
by the desire nearly all the boys have for
going away to college.
The Medical College of Indiana. which In
a part of the University of Indianapolis.
and the Central College of Physicians ana
Surgeons were both established many years
ago; both have been prominently identified
with the practice of medicine in this city.
and both have thousands of graduates scat
tered over this country. Each of the coll
leges has over sixty instructors. all of
whom are practicing physicians. except the
lecturers on medical Jurisprudence. who
are lawyers. and the lecturers on physics
and chemistry, most of whom are profess
sors in the high school. During the four
year course student hears lectures on
nearly 100 subjects embracing every phase
of the science of medicine of importance to
the general practitioner. Last year the free
dispensaries attached to two medical coll
leges treated over 1900 cases. all of which
were utilized for clinical purposes. Mem
bers of the faculty conduct daily clinics.
for which the classes are divided into small
sections in order that the students may
personally examine the cases that are pre-
scented In the colleges are all the facilities
for laboratory work. from the simplest
he rfn1
paratus.
The buildings occupied by the colleges
are modern, and have every convenience
and comfort for their students. About
seven years ago the Medical College Of In
diana erected handsome building and
year ago this was remodeled and an addi-
ton added, making 1t one of the largest
buildings of it's kind In the middle West.
The Central College of Physicis&s ami Sur
geons has lately completed its new build
ing An Indianapolis architect designed
this Building after visiting all the impor-
tant medical colleges In the East. and after
the most painstaking investigation of the
colleges needs. The latest ideas in medical
architecture have been used and they in
clude an excellent gymnasium and recrea-
ton room, shower baths. a Photographic
a
pares very favorably in appearance and
comforts with a high-class hotel. and the
building illustrates the extent TO which
sanitary precautions are carried in this
day. Altogether it is of the hand
soonest and most complete buildings of its
kind in this country.
The Physio-M Medical College Of Indiana II
the oldest of its kind. its original charter
having been issued by the State Of Ohio in
1885. There are only two other colleges or
the same school in this country. The col
lege here is attended by students who come
from many States. The Eclectic Medical
College of Indiana is an aggressive insti-
tuition, which has doubled its attendance
this year There are about ten eclectic
colleges in the United States. and the col
lege in this city is one Of the most promi-
nent. although it is only three years old.
LITTLE TIME FOR PLAY.
Inquiry among students shows that their
life differs widely from the life Of stu
dents at a literary college. The "meds''
are almost strangers to fraternity dances.
smokers. class fights. athletic contests and
all the things which go to make life at
a literary college gay and exciting. The
stories of the way some youths struggle for
medical education sound like chapter
from Booker Washington's autobiography.
Physicians explain that so many new dis
coveries have been made in medicine and
the responsibilities of the profession have
so increased that even in a four-year
course, which is twice as long as IL was
ten years ago, the students cannot do JUS
tice to their studies in less than twelve
hours a day. Students who work for their
their working hours are almost equal TO
those in which Napoleon labored. One of
these students says that he is awakened by
an alarm clock every day at a. m: at
Gas he has finished the chores by which
he pays for his room. and he goes to an
other house. where he works for his board
until s. He arrives at the college az $50,
where he attends lectures and studies I'M
til noon. During the noon hour he is again
working for his meals and at 100 he is
back in the lecture rooms. where he stays
until 5. Then follows an hour and half
of housework, and after supper he returns
to college for two hours of dissecting. or he
goes 10 his room for from three TO six
hours OF study by lamplight The students
are just now unwrapping the wet towels
from their weary heads. having passed
through their examinations. and they are
well prepared TO enjoy the festival season.
Character is at a premium in the medical
schools. A former army surgeon says that
a course I'm medicine Is either the making
or the breaking OF a man. and he compares
IL with military service as q test OF char
acter Students come to the colleges over
flowing with youthful spirits: four years
afterward they go away with the minds
elevated by their responsibilities or de-
pressed by the sickness and sin they have
witnessed. At the Dispensary clinics they
see every disease. every phase OF poverty.
sin and wretchedness. Some are madeAseri-
Gus by these sights; others are excited.
There is class OF students I'm the schools
known as cowboys" and these young men
are said 10 furnish. through their repartee
with the instructors. about the only amuse-
ment there is around the colleges. The stu
dents who fail 10 take their studies seri-
ously. or who join in the designations OF
the might crowd" soon drop out OF their
classes; or IL they are quick-witted they
sometimes pass the examinations. and de-
generate into quack doctors. On the other
hand. students who are impressed by the