An enquiry into the present system of medical education, in the State of New-York : respectfully submitted to the consideration of the members of the legislature / by an observer.

  • McNaughton, James, 1796-1874.
Date:
1830
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An enquiry into the present system of medical education, in the State of New-York : respectfully submitted to the consideration of the members of the legislature / by an observer. 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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    IS that the state of New-York cannot be blind to the obvious pro- priety of contributing to one institution that support which can alone make an adequate return to the community, instead of wast- ing her strength in various and comparatively unimportant county institutions. The selfsame year Dr. Francis, in a letter to ono of the regents of the university, says, Medical science will be ruined in this state if the regents augment the number of medical schools. With what grace then, can these very gentlemen now come for- ward in the face of such declarations, and ask the legislature for a charter ? What has taken place since 1824, to make it expe- dient to have two medical schools in New-York ? Nothing, ex- cept that the gentlemen, by resigning their offices, have lost their public stations in the state school, and that they are desirous of getting new ones. Edinburgh, Dublin, London and Paris, are very much as they used to be. Each has one institution and only one that can confer degrees; indeed London has not even one in- stitution that has the power of granting the degree of doctor of me- dicine. What is called the London University, has no such au- thority. AH the other schools of medicine in that city, are private ones—just as if the physicians and surgeons of the New-York hos- pital, almshouse and penitentiary, were each to open a school for teaching students. The faculty in New-York has as much au- thority to teach as that of London or Edinburgh, if they choose to do so ; but the power of teaching and that of conferring degrees, are two different things, not necessarily connected, nor indeed ought they to be. We are now told, however, (since the argument answers their purpose) that Philadelphia and Baltimore have each two medical schools, and that the city of New-York has grown so prodigiously that two schools are also required in it, although in 1824, one was enough for the whole state ! ! Let us examine the matter a little. As early as 1820, the number of medical students attending the college in New-York, amounted to about two hundred. The number gradually diminished untill 1824, when four of the present professors of Rutgers college resigned their offices in the state institution. Since that time we have had the benefit of two medi- cal schools in New-York, and we are told, that the aggregate