The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-11-11

acter and scope OF the CufTlcuta WeFo
improved and the minimum number
and approximate pay, OF the full time
teachers were specified
Weak schools Abolished.
The result OF this movement has
been that In the last ten years the
total number of medical schools In
the United States has been reduced
from 1856 to i01 and the total num-
Der or medical Students from 2S,142
to 1862. In other words eighty
five medical sch oois. weak either edu-
cationaiIy or financially, and over TO-
eco students not properly qualified
for the profession have ceased to
study.
Finally the cost Of the modern
method Of teaching is seen In the
graduate himself II he has not paid
in money he has been made to pay
in time for his education. He has
been kept in laboratory, lecture hal,
and hospital ward, nonproducer,
dependent on others for his support
until he reaches an age at which most
of his contemporaries are married ana
settled In life He Is conscious III
the sacrifice he has made. and usually
over-appreciativc Of the attachments
he has acquired. He desires to be q
specialist. and will only do general
pra ctice as a means to an end. He Is
determined 10 locate in city and
unwilling to- settle in the country pre-
ferring to starv.. himself in the one
rather than starve his ambitions in
the other
Must Find Some Remedy.
This results in an urban conees-
ton aud rural depletion of medical
men which has reached a point to give
serious concern, and for which some
remedy must ne found 1t has been
proposed that special medical schools
be operated to produce low grade
practitioners for country consumption.
but this is impra ctiCable and unthnk
able.
The remedy for the evil is to make
country practice less arduous and
more profitable. and this will come
about in time with the evolution of
eur social. economic and political life
When We compare the conditions that
exist IN the country today with those
which existed even twenty years ago,
aud recall the changes that have re-
suited from the good roads move
ment, the DEVELOPMENT Of the auto
mobile. the installation Of telcph ones.
the Introduction of parcel post and ru-
raj mail delivery. the Improvement of
the public school system, the perfec-
ton of heating and lighting plants
aud the invention of labor saving ma
chinery. it is not difficult to believe
that in the not far distant future. the
increased population due TO emigra-
ton of health and pleasure seekers
from the city. and the increased pros
peritv duo to intensified and scientific
farming, will make the life IF the
country doctor one that viii attract
and hold the best representatives of
the profession.
Modern Medical Man.
The modern medical man begins to
he trained for his profession while yet
boy. His preliminary education in
high school and college is scientific
rather than classical. and gives him
knowledge rather than culture. when
he completes his four years course
in n medical college and one years
post graduate work in hospital. he
represents an investment of time and
money covering period of from four
teen to sixteen years. He Is no longer
boy. bat an eminently practical man,
and he regards his calling as more "A
business than a profession, He recog
ni2es the fact that he lives in an age
Of specialization, hat no one man
can now meet all the professional
needs of a patient. and that the day
Of The domination of the family ply
stefan, on the one hand. and the de-
pcndences of the family on the other.
has past.
"'The presence OF a specialist In
community, not only gives to pa
TENTS suffering with certain diseases
opportunities for efficient treatment.
but also offers TO toe surgeon and
general practitioner corsultant
whose opinion and advice is often In
valuable in the determination OF the
cause Of obscure symptoms, and in
the decision as to the therapeutic
treatment or operative intervention
most likely to affect p cure.
Profit of Specialists.
While the profit side of the special
lists account is large. still on the on
posite page we find some items of loss.
The high esteem in which the special
list Is held, pecuniary rewards which
his services command and the adver
tising opportunities offered by his po
sition, have made him victim of
imitators and impCstors both inside
and outside the pale of the profession.
who deceive and defraud the public.
Modern medicine is not RESPONSE
bile for the quacks and Charlatans,
hlt il is responsible for the members
of the regular profession found in
every town and city who claim 10 be
specialists bat who really do a gem
eFal practice, and for others who.
while they may limit their work to
curtain AlSFdSt&s are NOT aS
experts and have no more knowledge
or experience in their diagnosis and
treatment than the average general
practitioner.
Surgical Work Discussed.
Surgeons, as rule. attend clinics
more frequently rhan do physicians
This is a pity. for even in q strictly
surgical clinic the points of greatest
interest are not the methods Of OPP
Grating, but the explanation of symp
toms by the pathological condition
found.
1T is curious fact that many
physicians, who would travel miles
TO see a post mortem examination,
witf~rot go around the corner to wit
ness an operation which demonstrates
the same changes produced b. dis
ease in living tissue before they are
obscured by terminal results. To cor
rect the loss entailed by the failure
of the average physician to avail him
self fully of the advantages offered
by the modern clinic the internist
must learn that to keep abreast of the
times 1t is necessary for him not only
to study. but to travel we'll
Europe, in time Of peace, may Of
fer peculiar advantages for instruc-
ton in medical subjects, but America
can truly claim TO have the best sur
gical clinics in the world. Rochester.
Chicago, Cleveland. Philadelphia and
Baltimore are universally known for