The Globe-republican. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1889-1910, 1906-06-14
Copyright, 1906, by Nathl c. Fowler, Jr.)

The physician is one Of the noblest
products Of civilization. His asso-
ciates are of the highest grade; his
surroundings are refined, broad, pro-
gressive and civilized. He lives both
under the sunshine of life and under
the shadow of death, and, by day and
by night, he feels the pulse of human
ity, and continually listens to the beat
ing Of the public heart.
Practically every doctor in good and
regular standing is a man OF ability
and credit to his community.
No man can occupy more honor
able, more respected and more re-
sponsible position than does the reg
ular doctor. In the actions o. his
brain, and in the skill of his hands,
he often holds the control Of life. He
is our friend at birln, and he remains
with us until we die. He Is neces-
sity, for without him we could not
be properly born, nor could we proper
ly live.
Not one boy in 10000 has the nat
ural abilities to make him fitted for
the medical profession, and the par
ent who pushes his son in this direc-
ton, unless the boy shows marked
characteristics which point to this pro-
fession, not only wrongs the boy, but
the community as well.
The boy most likely to succeed as
doctor is one who takes life serious
ly, and yet is not morose; for success
full seriousness sees the bright side of
life as often as it does the cloudy side.
While it is true that some frivolous
boys have later acquired great So
briefly of demeanor and thought, and
have become eminent physicians, yet
the majority of good physicians have
developed from thoughtful and serious
lads, who early realized that life has
its responsibilities, and that there was
something in it besides chance and
pleasure. The embryo physician is
likely to be a student, almost always
an experimenter, an early seeker after
truth, natural reasoner, and one who
does not readily accept any statement
unless it is backed by probability.
Such boy loves nature, and in his
crude way is an evolutionist and
believer in cause and effect. He feels
the growth of life, and becomes famil-
lar with its different forms. Physiol
ogy is his favorite study, and he may
even acquire fair knowledge of
anatomy. He may faint at the first
sight of blood and become unnerved
in the presence of suffering, so that
his parents may conclude that because
the boy does not seem to have the
strongest of nerves, therefore he is
untitled for the medical profession.
The physician has nerves. The great
er the physician, the greater the
amount of feeling he possesses. But
he also has the power Of nerve con-
centration, which allows him to cut
in mercy and to seem not to care
while in action; but no man Of fine in
tellect, no man of consummate skill,
can idly stand unmoved beside the
bed of suffering. Good butchers are
not good doctors, and the man without
tender feeling never made a good sur
geon.
The wild boy, the thoughtless boy,
the boy who does not possess the char
acteristics of manliness, and who is
not willingly a student, will never be-
come more than mediocre doctor.
One of the first indications of abil-
ity in this direction Is the perceptible
enjoyment which the boy shows at
the visits of the family physician, and
the earnestness with which he listens
to all that the doctor says. AS he
grows older, he associates with med
ical men, and probably borrows med
ical books, and studies them earnest
ly The chances are that he does not
display marked money-making ability,
and probably he thinks more about
becoming a man and a useful member
of society than of being mere money
getter. 1t is the exceptional. not the
average boy, who is fit to become a
doctor.
The physician is reasonably sure of
a livelihood, but he must not expect
to be self-supporting during the first
year, and perhaps not during his sec
ond and third years Of practice. His
chances are much better in the coun-
try than in the city, unless he pos
sesses remarkable skill or has strong
social influence. A very few physi-
clans in large cities enjoy incomes of
about $4,000 a year, and possibly
there are some whose receipts exceed
this amount. The average physician
in large cities probably receives from
$500 to $4,000 year, and COMPARE
lively few established city doctors
have annual incomes of less than
$1,000. There are in large cities quite
number of family physicians who
are not specialists, who have practices
worth from $1,000 to $4,000 year.
The average annual income of the
physician established in some country
center is from $4,000 to $4,000; the
minimum probably being not over
81 900, and the maximum not in ex-