Arizona republican., 1912-09-06
Medical Colleges and Students

It is well for us to engage in intro- spection once in while and follow it up with comparison; otherwise, we may fall into error and come to en- certain false notions of ourselves and others. The too constant scream of the eagle is not good for us.
 The average American moves about in at least one error and that is that Americans are superior in all res poets to the people of all other ma tions The more intelligent Ameri- cans know that this is not so and that we have to go abroad to finish our education in many lines, notably, music, the fine arts and medicine.
 The Journal of the American Medi- cal Association admits this necessity as to medicine when it states that medical standards in the United States are not equal in standing to the medical colleges in foreign cOun- tries" It is shown that the require ments for admission to medical col Ieges in the United States are lower than those in twenty-two leading countries in the world and exceed only those of Japan among civilized nations
 The Journal adds:
 It is not specially gratifying to our national pride to know that in spite of the high standing of indi- vidual physicians and surgeons in the United States, the amount of training required of medical students in this country is exceeded even in the South American republics, as well as in Spain Portugal, Russia, Belgium and Greece, to say nothing of the leading European countries. The example set by the twenty-seven colleges which have increased their standard should be followed by all reputable medical schools in the United States until the reproach of an unprepared and un educated medical profession has dis appeared"
 It is said by the Journal: Al though the character of American medical colleges is improving. the number is decreasing" We do not think this happily stated It seems to leave us to infer that the misfor- tune of losing some of our medical colleges is offset by the rising ex- cellence of those that remain. The 1 Journal cannot mean that; it can not regard the falling away of the number of such schools as a misfor- tune for the multiplicity of medical colleges has been the chief curse of the profession in this country There are yet far too many for elsewhere we are informed that there are 321 medical colleges in the world of which 116, or forty per cent are in the United States. England leads all other nations with twenty-one; Ger
 many and Italy each have twenty;
 Austria and France have seven. The decrease in the number of medical colleges will perhaps become more marked now, in view of the fact that twenty-seven of the leading institutions of this country have adopted the European standard of re- quirements for admission. They will ! come to be recognized by physicians and the laity as the only medical col leges of the country and the long list | of other so-called medical colleges
 will come to be regarded as training
 schools for quacks and one by one they will pass out of existence. With the decrease in the number
 of medical colleges there has beer
 happily a decrease in the number ol
 medical students, 10000 less this veal
 than in 1904, but, unfortunately, the figures for the present year show al
 increase over those of one year ant
 two years ago.