The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-03-22
Helping
the Boy
Succeed.
THE PHYSICIAN.
One of Our Grandest and Nobiest Pro-
Observation-Disclosures Facts About Him
"A Pen Picture of His Life.
BY Natha mel c. Fowler Jr.

ny INdttidHISi Ss FOWiGF JFs
Copyright. 1903, by Nathaniel C. Fow-
Ter Jr.
The physician IS one of the noblest
products Of civilization.
Substantially every doctor, In good
and regular standing, is man of abil-
ity and a credit to his community.
The brainless man of inactive good
ness. may be tolerated in the pulpit;
the man of wind may be allowed to
practice at the bar; but the regular
physician cannot maintain his position
unless he gives proof of his compe-
tency.
Comparatively few mediocres are at
tracted towards the profession, because
proficiency in it not only demands the
closest study, but requires continuous
sacrifice.
Speaking of the medical profession. I
am referring to the regular physicians
a member of some recognized medi-
car soc1ety-not to the quacks, charla-
tans, and other uneducated and I'M
trained practitioners, who deserve to
be mobbed, and certainly ought to be
in 5ail.
No one can occupy a more honorable
or more responsible position than does
the regular doctor. In the cells of his
brain, or in the skill of his hand, he
often holds the key of life and death
He is our friend at birth, and with US
till we die.
To be a physician, one must pass
through the longest and hardest course
of study, where favoritism is unknown,
where one must depend upon himself
orfall by the wayside.
Not only does the medical student
devote years to the closest study, but
he must experience practice before he
practices by himself.
Considerable education is necessary
before one can enter the medical school.
and hospital practice is essential after
graduation.
The physicians 1HSo ciates are o. the
highest grade, his surroundings are re-
fined, broad, progressive and civilized.
He. lives both under the sunshine of
life and under the shadow of death,
ana, by day and by night he feels the
pulse of humanity, and forever listens
to the beating of the public heart.
Not one boy in ten thousand is natu-
rally fitted for the medical profession,
and no parent should push his son in
that direction unless he appears to
present marked characteristics tending
that way
1t is true that some frivolous boys
have reached the prime Of sobriety and
have become eminent physicians, but
their number is too small to be counted.
The boy most likely to succeed as a
doctor IS he who takes life seriously
and yet is not morose, for successful
seriousness sees the bright side of life
as often as it does the cloudy side.
The embryo physician is likely to
be student and almost always he
IS an eXperimenter, an early seeker
after truth, a natural reasoner. and
one who is not likely to accept any
statement unbacked by probability. He
IS seldom If ever superstitious The
mil lon 1t
drouS natural laws of God. This bow
loves nature, and in his crude way is
an evolutfonfst and a believer in cause
and effect The mysteries of life in
terest him. He watches the growth of
plants, and is familiar with different
forms OF life. Physiology is his favorite
study, and even at an early age he
may have fair knowledge Of animal
anatomy.
Perhaps the bog fsi2to at his first
sight of blood, and is unnerved before
suffering, and his parents may con-
clude that because the boy does not
seem to have the strongest of outside
nerves that he is untitled for the pro-
fess1on. The greater the physician the
greater the amount Of feeling he pos
sesses. He has the power of nerve con-
centration, which allows him to cut in
mercy and tc seem not to care while
in action. No man Of fine intellect and
eonsummate skill can idly stand I'M
moved beside the bed of suffering.
GOOD butchers do not make good doc
tors, and the man Of feelingless nerve
never made q good surgeon.
The boy who is likely to make & good
doctor, even though he may be wild in
his youth, possesses the character
lst1cs of manliness and of intellect and
those of the student. He enjoys the.
visits of the family doctor, and he
listens to all the doctor says. AS he
grows older he associates with medical
men, and probably borrows medical
books and studies them intensely. The
chances are he does not display mark
ed money-making ability; probably he
thinks more about being a man and
a useful member Of society than of
being mere money getter He does
not necessarily despise money, but his
thoughts are along the ethical, scien-
t1f1c, and educational side Of life. His
first aim is to be proficient; and his
second aim may be for money, but
he does not allow money getting to in
terfere with the development of his
better parts.
The good physician is pretty sure of
livelihood, but he must not EXPECT
to be self-supporting during the first
year, and perhaps during his second
and third years Of practice. His
try than in the city, unless he pos
sesses remarkable sldllfuIness and has
strong social influence.
A very few large city physicians en-
JOY an income Of not far from SIS. 900
a year, and possibly there may be
Few whose receipts exceed this amount.
The average large city physician
probably earns from $500 to $4,000 a
year; and comparatively few, after
establishment, receive less than ST.
500 year; and there are in the larger
cities quite a number Of practicing
physicians and specialists enjoying in
comes of $4,000 to $4,000 a year.
The average annual income Of the
established country center physician is
from $4,000 to $4,000, the minimum
probably not being far from 81. 600. ana
the maximum not in excess of $1,000 to
$1,000 a year.
Well established country physicians
earn from $500 to $4,000 a year, COM
paratively few receiving more thar the
larger figure.
Unless the physician has a very ex-
tensive acquaintance, and stands high
socially, he probably will not be self
supporting in large city inside Of two
or three years, and perhaps not for
double that time.
The country center physician Is not
likely to find himself upon a self
maintaining basis in less than a year,
and in many cases his income viii not
be sufficient to ,net1tain him IN ordi-
nary comfort Until he has pract!ced
three or four yeaTe.
4 The country town physician has up
hill work Of It, if there be much oppo-
5sitton In his field. 1t is exceedingly
difficult TO usurp the old country doc
tor, who is the friend as we'll as the
physician of the whole community. His
patients are afraid of young physi-