The sun., 1907-12-31

why . state EKamlnnenen n noqnifeu--lan
interstate license Suggested.

lnterseAee License A4S8oateus
To THE EDITOR or THE sUN-Sir: 10 would
be fortunate II the recent editorial In fHn SUN
upon obstacles to medical oducatiOn ana tnS
correspondence elloited BY n should serve 20
interest the community in the medical law
by which mean all OF the public health law
regulating the practice Of medicine In its
several departments -physic, surgery. dsn-
tistry and pharmacy-and kts enforcement
The value Of the statute Hes Ohieny IN, the
fact that Il is a schoolmRster.
IL In true. as you suggest. that under the
present system Of license many are unduiy
delayed in entering the medical profession
The average age Of graduation from the
leading academic colleges Ii twenty-five. n
to that IN added three or four years In pro-
fessiOnRl school and year abroad the hcen-
tiate Ia nearly thirty years old before ne be-
gins his practice. and however well equipped
in theoretical knowledge. In apt 20 be deficient
In the clinical OK xDsrisnce which alone can make
n diagnOstician. Some years ago DR.. Bow
ditch of Harvard proposed a partial rem
sdy for this admitted evil that a student at
college might enter the medical school In MS
junior year, and upon graduation with a GER
tain rank receive both the academic and
medical degrees. The same plan has been
considered favorably In other institutions
The discussion Of il would be interesting II
space served.
What IL IL desired however, 60 call special
attention TO here is the reason why New York
state. and some others. require a State ex-
animation as "A prerequisite OF license even
in the cases Of men graduated from the best
professional schools. That reason is that
fence to keep cattle out Of a pasture is never
any higher than its lowest point. Formerly
In this State and throughout the country
the Diploma OF a chartered medical school or
college Was itself n license. The result was
that unpriDcipled men secured charters for
fraudulent "diDlome mills. tney
ca me to he called-which sold their diplo-
mas for $50 and upward To any one who would
buy. In this city two concerns sold their ad
eundem degrees to the most Illiterate, even
to boot blacks. The County Medical Society
instituted actions to yacate their charters,
to the ess9bIisRment OF state boards OF ex-
aminers. The regents of the university IN
times past did not, probably they could not'
It seemed likely TINT they could supervise an
examining hoard, and that men from good
after graduation with little difficulty. The law
eontemplates that licentiates shall register
IN eyerN county OF i ths sthte; tb ,w put ~ s
York scarcely a book OF registration IL prop
erly kept. The enforcement Of the law is seen
Society in this county, the Dental Society Of
the state OF New York. and the State Board
Of Pharmacy No one of these organizations
has sufficient resources to enforce the statute
with thDrOughness. Scandals have arisen Ia
few instances az TO the manner IN which
proceedings have been initiated, but for these
the gentlemen composing the organizations
are not fairly TO be held responsible; they
OF subOrdinates and have been remedied
when disclosed. The best evidence that no
injustice has been done is that no, suit for
damages has ever been successfully main
tanned, so far the writer knows, against
any OF these organizations, Though num-
Der Of such actions have been brought.
After every allowance is made for other
causes. 1t may still fairly be said that the es-
tablishment OF the State Board OF Examiners
has operated to increase the term of profess
slonaI study and the standard OF attainment.
n the old days men were graduated even from
the good schools after "A short course OF two
years and sometimes less They learned their
profession by practising upon patients who
assumed them to be already learned men.
A distinguished surgeon in this city once
said that he was Mortified on looking back
70 realize that he had been graduated In less
The public health law in 40 far IA il regu-
lates practice in the several departments Of
friends do not pretend that il H. But. having
drafted some twenty years ago so much OF
It as relates TO medicine and dentistry the
writer knows that it il not what was desired
but what could be obtained. Various con-
not the least potent of which were those Of
the colleges that sa In its passage loss of rev.
enue and Of students. Some in those colleges
seemed to have an unavOwed but none the less
an existent feeling that a matrculAnt had n
contractual right TO diploma II he paid his
always lenient and never "plucked" any one
The event has proved their error. Il ought TO
be said TO the lasting honor OF the WOman's
fortunately extinct, that il was the first col
lege TO demand n three years course. When
the Harvard medical school made like re-
quirement, about thirty years ago, the nunl-
ber Of students fell from the hundreds to the
tens But that result temporary stu \
dents who are IT 10 br in the profession and
regard IL as something higher than a com
mPrCial pursuit viii seek the best sources OF
inst ructiOn, and they have no need to fear
state cXamininr boards which DO not ne
CcssitItP any prOhOngafiou of tha term Of
study. The Chief evil 20 D.. rPmedied l. the
in preliminary "duc ltiOn; nnl this
will be met not by shortening the term o"
professional study or abolishiug examining
bon rds. but by improving the schoOl syst 7ms
and insisting on disciplinary study rather thln
on useless examining.
II would be most desirable IL a Ulau OF inter- {
state license could he devised 'ahpTeInder I
licentiates Of one state might b. admitted !
TO practise in another withou further exam |
ination. Many cfOrts have been mode Rph |
are making in that direction But the dr..
Guilty Is here ns with divorce laws and tho oiI (
d diploma system. that the vPrviug S;nndards !
in different States aud colleges have hitherto |
made uniformity Of eouiDDent i5ry,ohsihle ,
unless. as In trades uniohisn. the lowest /
Of work IL TO ha accepted But This !
is another story and too long r6r "a telling /
here ". g. PiEV;y.lo~
NEw York, December 81