Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1912-10-31

NV VI NAoN
icine have failed IN State board exam
nations in the United states during
the past v years. whereas Yale's per
cent. is OIL. Columbia's 1911 and Names
ia.
This year the requirement for pre-.
liminary education to enter the Col.
lege Of Medicine was raised TO include
n yea in college In addition to the
-four years high school course. This,
Of necessity. makes a very much small
Ter entering class this year. The rea.
son for this 10 that last year all high
school graduates who wished to study
medicine could be admitted on their
high school diploma, this year one
additional year Is required, so that
there are only a few students WAC
come from other academic colleges
now In the entering class. There are
now twelve students In the pre-medi-
cal class in the University Of Vermont.
these with what tu1ents we may nat
urally expect to enter from other In
situations would naturally give us an
entering class Of twenty or twenty
I'VE next year. 80 that the small class
this year Is no indication whatever
t nat the school is going to pieces. II
is evident that for some years at least
tha A,rphor 80 ot1o~s. L. 49, ryl..z-
sity OF Vermont College OF Medicine
must be smaller than It has been. The
income from the fees of students win
be correspondingly decreased. There
are some things which must be done
to still further improve the course.
as the establishment of a maternity
hospital and a free Jrspensary. These
will be an additional expense in man.
tanning the school but will still fur
Their increase its sphere Of usefulness.
The gist of the whole matter Is that
with increased expense and diminished
income the school cannot continue 20
exist without an additional income.
This college Is an integral department
OF the University of Vermont, It's pro-
~fessors are paid their salaries by tn.
university, the university collects all
fees and pays all bills, the university
has no general fund, however, which
can be diverted to the supper OF mel.
ical education. The State must come
to the aid Of this institution by giving
1t additional support II it is 10 con-
tinue. Is there any good reason why
the State should not support it's uni
versity? Medical education rs now
supported in many States by State ap-
preparation or by direct tax. The
State OF Vermont should give adequate
support to the State university Of
which the College of Medicine Is a
part.
The Medical Monthly says: 1T Is
very natural in discussing his ques-
ton to ask. Is II worth while to main
yam Il cNiN S'HOOi III lIoIt 10
the medical school serving the people
OF the State in a way that warrants
the expenditure necessary to maintain
1t? Do we nee a medical school 70
educate Vermont boys? Are the stan
dards Of medical education going to be
raised still higher so that they cannot
be met by the College of Medicine?
These are questions that should be
carefully considered.
First. Is the medical school serv-
ing the people OF the State? Let us
see. The free medical and surgical
service at the hospitals is made posi-
bic, very largely at least. by the ex-
Istence OF the medical school. 1t ae-
cessitates study to become qualified to
teach; as the medical school requires
teachers In the various branches Of
nedicine 1t is able to furnish qualified
men to do the gratuitous hospital
work. Compare the amount of gratu-
itous hospital work that is done ~
other hospitals in the state with that
which is done by the hospitals who's
attending stars are made up wholly
or largely of men connected with the
college OF Medicine. We can get some
idea Of the amount Of this work II we
study the report Of the hospitals.
During the past year, 1911, the total
number OF days OF gratuitous treat
ment Of all the patients in the Mary
Fletcher hospital aggregated 25.O0s
days. Assuming that these patients
were seen by a physician or surgeon
every day and that the fee OF the physi-
clan or surgeon be computed at the
rate of 81 a visit (less tina the fee of
the general country practitioner) the
amount of this gratuitous servic 4.
would he $685. O6. There were 2,395
operations lone at the Mary Fletcher
hospital last year.
Assuming that the fee for these OPP
crations would average $50 (an amount
much less than the surgeons fee for
even "A comparatively simple opera
tom the amount of this %gratuitous
service would be $119.65O. In addition
to this there have been over a thou
sand patients treated in the out