The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1932-04-06
Checking Tn On Doctors

When DR.. Evan Kane dled the OtneT
day in Pennsylvania at the age Of 10
YEARS, he was remembered by the pub
Vic largely as q man who gained at
tcntion some 10 years ago by removing
his own appendix and by performing
another operation upon himself a
short time ago.
] But by the medical profession he
was remembered as a "reformer" who
aong had sought, perhaps by unorth-
odox means, to improve the standards
of service performed by the physicians
Of the country.
DR.. Kane, like most other prac-
titioners, contended that the profess
sion suffers from certain amount
of ineptitude, incapacity or whatever
YOU may want to call 1t. In other
words he contended that some men,
hers Of the profession were not really
"on their jobs" and that something
pupht to be done about it. Most doc
tors will agree that he Is basically
right, for the medical profession Is
troubled in this respect in the same
manner that all other lines Of en-
deayor are. The mere fact that a
man has passed certain tests and has
been granted a license does not insure
his competency to handle the cases
which may be presented to him.
TO meet this situation, DR.. Kane
advocated laws which would require
physicians to make public records OF
their diagnoses in all serious cases. If
a patient died, an autopsy would be
held and the work of the physician
checked to determine if the doctor
did the right thing. The result, DR..
Kane commended, would be to drive the
incompetent men out Of the profess
sion.
The treatment prescribed was some
what radical but it would be neces-
sary II the doctors, themselves, did
not voluntarily follow the same prac-
tice. Few persons are more interested
In testing the accuracy of their dag
noses than the men who make them.
Every true physician understands full
we'll that the amount of knowledge
available now is pathetically small
when COMPARED with what may be
known 100 years hence, and so they
are constantly trying to improve their
methods and standards of work.
Doctors are continually checking up
on themselves. Many an autopsy is
performed in Bismarck of which no
mention is made, the objective in
each case being to add to the doc
tors store of knowledge so that, If he
encounters a similar case in the fu-
ture, he will be better prepared to
deal with 1t. In each case the au-
topSies are performed by more than
one man and if anything unusual is
discovered the facts are made known
to the entire profession either by
local reports or by publication in pro-
fessional journals.
But practices are not as enlight-
ened everywhere as in Bismarck,
where the large number of prac-
titioners makes possible an active
medical society and the establishment
Of strong professional tone. In
many cities, and particularly in the
small towns, some doctors are content
10 practice today with the knowledge
which they obtained 20 years ago, in
creased only by their own experience
over that period.
It was at these, partly, and at those
who were poor doctors because OF
natural incapacity especially, that
Or. Kane directed his attack.
There are plenty of others still
active in the profession who will con-
tinue this fight, even though they
will hardly espouse the means which
DR.. Kane recommended.