South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1916-12-07
To Make Health
Catching, Modem
Doctors Object

BY Woods Hutchinson. \. NJ. VI. ID.
The Worlds Foremost Writer on
Medical Subjects.
Two interesting and rather unex-
pected illustrations Of the way in
which even this deplorable war has
driven us to turn to the light with
in" recently appeared i'm the news
columns. one is the trifiing allot-
ment of two million dollars by the
Rockefeller Foundation TO the Med
ical department of the university Of
Chicago for the purpose of enlarging
and raising it into one of the worlds
great medical schools. making al
together eleven million dollars which
is available for this purpose.
The other is the calling of a spec
ial meeting 10y one of the oldest and
in the country, the New York County
Medical society, for the purpose of
discussing health insurance, which
means universal medical attendance
by the year for a fixed annual pre-
MUM.
The war has cut off from their op-
pOrtunities of study and observa-
ton the thousands of American
physicians who go abroad every
year TO the wOrld-famous European
medical schools and hospitals for
purpose OF advanced study and re-
search work. This sudden depri-
walton threw into bold and painful
relief the fact that while America
has many excellent and Creditable
medical schools and great teaching
hospitals, both for medical students
and graduate physicians, yet none of
them is upon such "a scale or orga-
nized in such a way as 10 make a
really satisfactory substitute for the
great historic hospitals. with their
thousands and tens of thousands of
patients. and the famous centers of
medical teaching In Europe.
OF course such an institution can
not be built 20 order or bought just
by spending money, even in millions.
but the generous, almost unlimited,
resources and broad. intelligent. pro-
gressive lines upon which the new
Medical university Of Chicago is be-
ing planned insures a most encour-
aging start IN that direction. More
over, at the close OF the war. with
half Of Europe bankrupt and the
other half very hard up. il may be
possible TO literally purchase some
OF the ablest medical talent of the
world, partiC ularly in the labora-
tory and research departments. 10
add something Of the prestige and
the luster of the old world 10 the
/ lusty enterprise of the new.
Two features Of special interest
and Importance TO the public stand
out in the proposed scheme Of the
new National Medical school one
I is that particular if not chief at
I tention is 10 be paid 70. and the
/ broadest and fullest facilities fur
nished for the training anC equip
ment OF the new doctor the real doc
I tor. the preyenter rather than the
curer. the builder-up instead OF
patcher-up. the sanitarian. the
/ school-hygienist. the health officer.
/ This is in line with the best and
broadest thought Of the medical pro-
I fession today, whose ambition is 10
7 prescribe for a whole community
at once. not a mere single patient al
a time as before.
That great hereto and great lover
/ OF his kind, Col Robert j. IngersoII.
used 10 say in one OF his famous
] lectures. criticizins the present plan
3 of creation. that ii ne had been cod
Almighty ne would have made health
catching instead OF disease In
which he not inaptly phrased some
thing Of the ambition OF the new
/ doctor. and We are actually begin
ming to see some prospect of success
| already.
The new department OF hygiene