Omaha daily bee., 1910-03-06

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The a-nimadversions at Chicago of
DR.. Henry s. Pritchett. president of the
Carnegie Foundation, about the over
supply of physicians in this country are
really repetitions of what he has to say
on this subject in his last report re-
Gently made to the trustees of that in
stitution. In this comprehensive review
of our educational configuration, DR..
Pritchett declares II to be the uncom-
promising purpose of the foundation,
which provides retirement pensions,
not to recognize any college or univers-
ity which has connected with it a med
loal school which lis below standard,
and goes further to say that investiga-
lions which he has set on foot have
convinced him that there has been an
enormous over-production in this coun-
try of ill-trained doctors and half-edu-
Gated lawyers" Unfortunately" he
adds, many of these agencies in the
production of inefficient doctors and
lawyers are doing their work under the
shelter of colleges and universities;
some of these are on private founda-
ton and some are unsupported insti.
tutions. Not only are the standards of
admission to these professional schools
low, but even the standards which are
professed are in many cases evaded.
Some medical schools now sheltered by
institutions of learning are disreputa-
BILE as we'll as inefficient"
But even more important than the
declaration that the trustees of the
Carnegie Foundation would lend a
helping hand to no college, or univers-
ity, however strong in numbers or in
the prestige of other departments,
which either sustains or shelters a low
grade law school or a medical school
unfit for the training Of men in modern
medicine, is the announcement that the
foundation will print at an early date
an accurate description of all the med
ioal schools in the United States and
Canada, setting forth their resources,
their standards and the quality of med
ical instruction. which they can offer,
and will follow this later with a similar
report upon the law schools. When
these reports are made public, we will
doubtless have a catalogue of medical
schools and law schools with such a
rating that those which fall below the
accepted standard will be practically
on a blacklist.
The Justification of this proposed &C,
tion is said to be that no institution of
higher learning has a right to under
take tn. conduct of a school of medi-
cine, except from the standpoint of the
betterment of medical education, and
that the schools which purport to turn
out doctors on a commercial basis de-
serve NO support and should be put out
of business. 1t is explained that the
weak, and In some cases disreputable,
medical schools would not exist except
for the fact that. even in cities where
decent medical schools are struggling
to live, distant colleges and universities
have lent the shelter of their charters
to a rival coterie of doctors to enable
them to establish an unnecessary com
peting school.
The materials for the promised re-
port already in hand are said to show
that there are in this country today
more medical schools than in all of
Europe; that these schools have turned
upon the public a far larger number
of physicians han are needed; that
the majority Of those physicians are
ill-trained and poorly educated. and
that the demand is not for more med
ical schools, but for fewer and better
ones: not for more ill-trainCd doctors,
but for a smaller lumber of well
trained ones, and that an end should
be- put TO the commercial exploitation
Of law and of medicine.
We are sure that the people Of this
country believe in high standards in
every field Of education. No we'll con
Quoted medical school or law school
with good intentions should have any
reason to fear publicity Of It's work
and It is gratifying to have the assur-
anoe OF those who are In a position to
know that the medical schools and law
schools of Omaha will not suffer seri-
ously by comparison with the best.