The medical student's guide, or, Plain instructions as to the best course to be pursued by those entering the medical profession : with notices of the medical schools and examining boards in the United Kingdom / by W. Douglas Hemming.

  • Hemming, William Douglas, 1848-1881.
Date:
1876
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The medical student's guide, or, Plain instructions as to the best course to be pursued by those entering the medical profession : with notices of the medical schools and examining boards in the United Kingdom / by W. Douglas Hemming. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    12/22 page 10
    which the subject he is dissecting may differ from the descrip- tion in the book, and pay especial attention to the relations the various organs and structures bear to each other, for it is this knowledge of relative position of parts which he will find of the greatest service to him in after life. Although it may ap- pear to tho student that many of the points he is required to note are trivial and unimportant, it is rarely that such is the caso and he must believe that a good and accurate knowledge of anatomy is of tho greatest importance to every medical man, while to the pure surgeon it is absolutely indispensable. Physiology also is a science whose importance it is scarcely possible to overrata, and it should always be studied in con- nection with anatomy, to which it is, as it were, the handmaid and the complement—the one science describing the position of the various structures of the body, while the other makes us acquainted with the functions and uses of thoae structures. It will be seen from this, that these two sciences must necessa- rily go hand-in-hand. In most of our medical schools, now, in- struction is also given in practical physiology (though this subject is sometimes taken later on,) and in the preparation of objects for the microscope, &c. This is generally both an interesting and instructive course, and one which is very popular with students. Chemistry is the other subject of study in the first winter, and we should earnestly advise the student to learn it now and get it out of the way, as if ho do not he will find it very diffi- cult in his later years of study, amongst the numerous other important subjects which will demand his attention, to get it up satisfactorily. We must say we think it would be an im- provement if a knowledge of chemistry were required of can- didates in the preliminary examination, and if it were struck out of the purely medical curriculum. It is, of course, im- portant that a medical man should have some acquaintance with it, but as it cannot be looked upon as entirely a medical subject, it might well be learnt at school, or at any rate before commencing hospital work. In addition to attending lectures on the above subjects, the student will also be expected to appear in the out-patient department of the hospital. With regard to this we would not advise him to let it occupy too much of his time, and on no account should he take any hospital duties, such as those of out-patient dresser or clinical clerk, as the performance of these duties will draw him too much away from the dissecting-room, which should be his habitual haunt during his first winter. Next comes the first summer session. The subjects on which he will have- to attend lectures during this period are materia medica, botany, and practical chemistry. As far as our own opinion is concerned, and we have heard the same opinion ex- pressed by more than one experienced teacher, we think that botany should be struck out of the medical curriculum alto- gether. In fact, it is not one of the subjects considered by the General Medical Council as essential for the attainment of a medical qualification, and now that the various branches of me- dicine have assumed such gigantic proportions, it is unreason- able to require the student to cram his head with a host of technical terms and facts, which will bo of little or no use to him. With regard to this subject wo cannot forbear here from quoting the words of a great physician and teacher, the late Dr. Graves, of Dublin. In his Clinical Lectures,* he says, speaking of chemistry and botany, Both are extremely valu- able in themselves, and a certain acquaintance with them is undoubtedly dosirablo; but to the student in medicine their utility has been greatly overrated. Botany is an extremely interesting and useful science, but I believe you might be very good practitioners without knowing the classes of Linnajus or the families of Jussiou. To be sure, if you had the misfortune to practise in localities separated from the ordinary channels of commerce; if you were suddenly bereft of the numerous stores which maritime enterprise pours into the lap of medi- cine, and obliged, like the herbalists of old, to search in woods * Clinical Lectures on tho Practice of Medicine, by tho late K. J. Graves, M.D., &e. (Dublin : Fannin & Co., 18G-4.) and fiolds for your materia medica, you would certainly be often at a loss, and make some serious mistakes unless you were adepts at practical botany. But this labour, fortunately for us and for every European practitioner, is quite unnecessary. A small sum will bring the vegetable productions of the most distant countries to your door ; and any respectable druggist will, for a trilling sum, provide you with all the medicinal sub- stancos derived from plants, carefully selected, and accurately prepared. * * * Let me repeat with respect to cho- mistry what has been already observed with regard to botany. Students should attend ono or two courses of this science as preparatory to the study of medicine, and during the period of that study they may attend another, in order to keep up and improve their knowledge, but they should never allow che- mistry to cause them to absent themselves from the hospital for a single day. We cannot quote more from this high authority, but we would recommend those who wish to read more on the question to peruse carefully the first three lectures from Dr. Graves' admirablo volume, in which they will find some very practical remarks on medical education. While, however, botany is retained as a subject of examina- tion by some of tho licensing bodies, we must of course study it, and we advise the first-year's man to learn it at once and have done with it, as if he does not learn it now he will find it anything but a congenial study to have to turn back to in his second and subsequent years. Materia medica is a subject of much greater importance, though we think it has not hitherto been taught in quite the right way. Too much has been said about methods of prepara- tion of the various remedies, and too little about their thera- peutical uses. In fact, it is not materia medica that we want to know so much as therapeutics. It is of comparatively slight im- portance whether we are acquainted with the exact composition or natural history of medicines, as long as we have a thorough knowledge of how and when to use them, and the effects they will produce. The surgeon is not required to know how to manufacture an amputating knife or a pair of forceps before he uses those instruments ; and drugs are to the physician what his instruments are to the surgeon, viz., the means by which he effects the objects he has in view for the relief of suffering. We must, however, at present take the regulations of the exa- mining boards as we find them, and learn our subjects so that we may be able to pass the required examinations. We are glad to observe, however, that there is a growing ten- dency among teachers of materia medica to lay more stress on the properties and therapeutic action of drugs, and less on their preparation and natural history. In studying this subject the student should take advantage of the collections of medicinal substances to be found in the museums of most hospitals, and should learn to recognise each drug by the eye or the nose. Practical chemistry is an important subject, as it teaches the' art of analysis, and becomes of great use in testing, in detect- ing poisons, and in other medico-legal investigations, and it should, therefore, receive careful attention from the student. So far, then, for the first year of the student's course. We now come to a period of very great importance, and one which involves a great deal of hard work. Tho second winter session is a time of almost incessant labour for the student, and is in fact the hardest part of his course. During this six months anatomy and physiology must receive great attention, in order that the student may fit himself for his primary examinations. To the London student the first College rises like a grim spectre at this time, and in order to make sure of passing it he must work hard at his anatomy and physiology. It is of groat importance that he should pass at tho end of his second winter. If ho does so, it leaves him comparatively free to pursue hospital work ; but if ho do not, he feels it always hanging over his head, and is never ablo to attond properly to practical work in tho wards until it is passed. Therefore, to the second years' man wo say, Make sure of your primary. If the student is working for the London Uni- vorsity degree, ho will have to attend a second courso of.
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3