Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1906-01-03
SPECIALIST A CALAMITY.
Tendon Doctor. Indictment Of a
Modern Tendency ms Narrowing.

tsndon Doctors Indictment Of
Modern Tendency ms Narrowing.
1.-THE inherent dangers and advant-
ages Of the almost universal tendency
to specialize on the part of physicians
and surgeons" was the main thesis Of
a recent address, delivered by DR.. G.
G.. Franklin. Perhaps the most start
ling fact Of the day in connection with
medical education, said DR.. Franklin,
Is the apparently inevitable develop
ment of the specialist. One might be
inclined to ask whether the general
practitioner will, as such, continue to
exist, when one contemplates the sub
divisions OF work that are undertaken
by the specialist. Thus there were not
only special men for the eye, ear,
spine, skin and throat, but for almost
every organ In the body, says the Lon
don Mail.
Two main reasons might be assigned
for this state of things-frst, the Sc
we're competition which awaits we'll
qualified man when he is about to
start in practice; and, second, the de-
mand of the public. The public did
not believe in universalism as applied
to the practice of medicine. but they
pinned their faith to some specialist
who had taken up some particular ill
ment or organ Of the body. "a healthy
specialism," continued DR.. franklin,
has been described as the practice of
special branch of treatment, the
study of special domain of knowl-
edge of natural and gradual growth,
in the varied experience of a practi-
toner. Something like this has nl-
ways existed in medicine, greatly to
Its advantage, and is very different
from the speclalism of what 1 have
heard described as the mushroom
growth variety, where chlcanery and
humbug reign triumphant.
"There can be no doubt that honest
speclalism has advanced the science
and art of both medicine and surgery,
particularly during the last thirty or
forty years, but as has often been OBJ
served in many other lines of human
activity, subdivisions of labor, while
advancing the best interests of the peo-
pie at large. have great disadvantages
for those engaged in the work. There
is then the danger that this modern de-
velopment Of specialism may tend to
produce a narrower type of medical
men, who. like the mechanics. will only
know their own departments of work.
and be unable to understand properly
the relations of special portions of the
field of medicine to others, or to the
system at large.
"From my experience Of practice and
patients make bold to declare that
the public might derive more help and
benefit than they do if they knew what
to have and what to avoid In the way
Of specialism. Now, here is the oppor.
tunity and well-defined duty for the
well-educated practitioner. He viii
see to it that his patients shall not, if
he can help 1t, patronize the false spe-
cialist, legally qualified or not. Be.
fore leaving this subject l may take
the opportunity to express my regret
that nothing seems to be able to be
done to check the advertising special
advertisers who
claim to cure diseases without seeing
the patients, who claim to do, in fact,
what is impossible Of accomplishment
and who use the daily press, religious
and magazine publications for fraudu-
lent purposes-for that is what 1t
amounts to-"