Daily Kennebec journal., 1921-06-08
RAPS DOCTORS
(Continued from PAGE Onel

ourselves as dictators in medical
matters, when in reality we merely
meet the demands of the public. We
should remember that numerically
we are as one in 500 among the peo-
pie and that our calling has already
been granted many privileges, some
of which are being betrayed.
physicians are Indifferent to
ouackery. as competitor in all it's
phases. Charlatans have no place in
rational medicine. They are adven-
turers, supported by people who
court deception for the excitement of
it, and who are lured by the mystic
ries of ignorance
Thoughtful men believe that
crisis threatens established princi-
pies. and that physicians must now
earnestly address themselves to the
cause and the prevention of disease
and disability as the primary concept
of medicine, safeguarding its princi-
pies, lest the profession lose its esprit
de corps, and its place in public es-
teen. If it's members become piece
workers, it may fail of public appre-
citation as an essential economic fac
tor in the preservation of the national
wealth, because of a depreciating ma
tional health. Our medical outlook
must then be based on public well
fare; and the function of the physi-
clan should be not only to treat, but
also to prevent disease in the fami-
! lies under his care. and in the COM
munity of which he is a part.
Years ago the general practition-
CT conceived his duty to be that of a
healer only. He regarded disease as
inevitable, if not indeed providential
Later he advised his clientele how to
avoid it. Both Of these functions he
continues to exercise; but a new field
presents itself; medical men must
now combat disease in the mass.
Within recent years our lay press has
indicated welcome interest in mat
ters pertaining to public health.
Our people regard il in a new
light, as virile. organized force,
quite Independent of the sick cham
! her or hospital environment They
see in the practice of medicine the
possible application of civil morals by
those skilled in heaiing-and more.
They now urge that it must include
the larger field of civic service for
those who are we'll; for social morals
should protect against disease, as
well rs cure it, and business thrift
has come to recognize medicine as an
essential in public policy
The practice Of medicine demon
ates some men to the exclusion of
many things that broaden and
sweeten life. To boast of no knowl-
edge outside a speciality, to smother
interest in cultural arts or collateral
sciences, to ignore the spiritual dis
tlnctlon between men and animals, is
to invite professional deterioration
and exclusion from the highest con-
cepts of the profession.
NO thought is entertained of min
imizing the Importance of individual
or isolated achievements. I wish,
rather to depreciate the tendency to
attract attention to them to neglect
of the larger things in medicine, so
necessary to retain public confidence
in our profession. and to secure CO.
operation of physicians instead of
their dissertation. now threatened,
largely through special societies,
which is tending to obscure medicine
as national asset. -
The city now rears the healthiest
children, and schools them better, of
fering convenences and attractions.
not to be found on the farm. Conso1-
idated community schools have al
ready come. and with them must
come readily available protection to
the health of rural dwellers, or we
shall very soon be compelled to pay
famine prices for our food, and the
source of virile men shall fail.
AN economist of health with gov
ernmental prerogatives is an acute
need for this nation, for the primitive
purpose of producing our own food
and fabricating our materials for
trade exchange.
Clearly the state, or some unit of
government, should contribute to in
stall al convenient points the housing
and apparatus necessary to medical
precision, making it available TO the
poorest; but beyond that an organ
lied government should not go. The
intimate relation between physician
and patient must be preserved where
it exists. and restored where lost. if
we would give our best aid, and avoid
whole time state service, with its
attendant commercialising of the
profession of medicine. and the
stressing of trade features.
disqualification is now the first
thought for the sick, partly for pro-
fessional chiefly for economic rea-
sons. We would have the laity taught
to see the future hospital as socio-
logic institution, place of refuge ac-
cessible to the well for prophylactic
advice, and to the sick for their un-
restricted use. instead of a retreat
accessible, only to those able to pay,