The good physician : being an introductory to the course of lectures on materia medica and therapeutics in the Medical Department of Transylvania University, for the session of 1842-3 / by Thos. D. Mitchell.
- Thomas Duché Mitchell
- Date:
- 1842
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The good physician : being an introductory to the course of lectures on materia medica and therapeutics in the Medical Department of Transylvania University, for the session of 1842-3 / by Thos. D. Mitchell. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)
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![be the initiatory etep to the regular study of our science. Let ns make sure of the lesser blessing, before we venture to grasp the great- er and more valuable boon. No man will more heartily rejoice to be- hold the happy day, when it may be justly affirmed that nil medical pupils are good scholars in the broadest sense, than he who now ad- dressee you. But in the meantime, be it our purpose, to imbue the entire population of the West, with the absolute necessity of making English scholars of all the youth who are destined to swell the Escu- lapian roll. However reluctant some of us may be, to dispense for the present with an acquaintance with classic lore, as a preliminary to medical studies, there are few, perhaps none, within the sound of my voice, who will not concede the necessity of a good English education. That every pupil should be able to write his native tongue correctly, and to comprehend the import of all the words employed in medical litera- ture, is a proposition so obviously true, that none will venture to make it a point of debate. Yet it must be confessed, that not a few who are now in course of preparation for the honors of the profession, fall very far below this meagre standard. May we not indulge the hope, that the recent formation of district medical Societies, will powerful- ly impress the public mind, with the imperious necessity of a thorough reform, in this important department of the profession] ]f this end be accomplished, the skill and labor of those who have been most efficient in making these organisations, will have been abundantly rewarded.— If it fail, through the apathy or neglect of those who profess to regard it as a desideratum of the highest importance, all our resolutions, and plans, our discussions and efforts of every name, will be worse than in vain. Superadded to natural qualifications and the advantages of a sound English education, it is essential to the formation of a well balanced and amply furnished physician, that the period of medical pupilage be devoted to the investigation of the entire range of topics that appertain legitimately to the science. It will not suffice, to acquire a tolerably full acquaintance with the elements of the several departments. This kind of knowledge is indispensable; but it must be followed by a care- ful study of standard authorities, a vigilant supervision of every varie- ty of the periodical literature of the profession, that may be accessible. I know that the curriculum of studies now suggested, will at once ex- cite an inquiry, as to the length of time that ought to be devoted to pupilage. And while I am compelled to regret the change that has passed over the profession throughout our whole country, in this import- ant particular, I hesitate not to stand forth as the fearless advocate of the good old way. Even in the short period of my own history, the time has been, when the majority of the pupils in attendance on medi- cal lectures, had more than completed three years of regular study, be- fore they ventured to offer as candidates for the honors of the school.— And is the field of investigation more circumscribed now, than it was Miirty years ago? Where is the man. versed as he should be, in the](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21141757_0010.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
