An inquiry into the present state of that department of the profession of physic which constitutes the province of the physician, as it exists in England; of the laws that have been enacted for its government, and of the manner in which these laws have been adminstered.

Date:
1820
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An inquiry into the present state of that department of the profession of physic which constitutes the province of the physician, as it exists in England; of the laws that have been enacted for its government, and of the manner in which these laws have been adminstered. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    test of actual examination, openly conducted in the halls of the universities, afford as complete tests of competency as any ex- amination which the London College can institute. To super- add their examination to those by which the medical degrees of Edinburgh and Glasgow are obtained, is to harass indivi- duals for no good end, and to subject them to trials which, while utterly superfluous, may chance too to be decided on far different grounds than the real merits of the candidate. That some central association should exist for enrolling and legalizing, as practitioners, the several physicians supplied by the universities seems highly expedient; but the functions of such an association should be confined to examining and verifying the original degree, the proof of which should entitle the person possessing it to enrolment, to the right of freely ex- ercising his profession in any part of the British dominions, aud to a full participation in the rights and privileges conferred by the charter of association. It would, perhaps, be right, so long as certain universities think proper, to confer degrees in physic, without subjecting the candidates to the test of exami- nation, founding their testimonials on private certificates only, to limit the right of admission into the medical college or asso- ciation to those graduates whose degrees had been obtained by full trials, requiring those whose degrees were obtained by special grace, or on private testimonials of ability, to undergo before the college an examination corresponding to what the universities require. This would be a just and suitable expe- dient for equalizing those different graduates, and would tend directly to bring the summary modes of obtaining degrees into disuse, by providing, that such graduates could not wholly evade examination, while it would leave such degrees still with- in the reach of those to whom it may be desirable, in advanced life, to become possessed of such titular distinction. At present, the Edinburgh graduate, who has been tried by ample tests, and the St Andrews graduate, who may not have been subject- ed to any, are equally examined by the London College, on ap- plying for a licence. This surely is a direct inducement to in- dividuals to prefer the cheap, convenient, and summary process by which a St Andrews degree is obtained, to the arduous studies and strict examinations of Edinburgh. Were such a distinction as I have proposed adopted, the abuses of Aberdeen and St An- drews degrees in physic, which have been so long a subject of complaint, would be rendered harmless, while any advantage that can be considered to arise from them would still be pre- served! It may illustrate this part of the subject to shew what those tests are by which an Edinburgh degree in physic is
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