Henry Baird Favill, AB, MD, LL.D., 1860-1916, a ... - University Library

MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH 117
Delivered at a dinner of the Rush Medical College, March 17, 1898.
Printed, Journal of the American Medical Association, April 9, 1898.
MODERN METHODS OF MEDICAL
INSTRUCTION
MY
interest in this matter is not greater than my
marvel at the enormous advance which has occurred
within the short space of years, since 1880, when my
medical college experience commenced. And yet, in drawing
the comparison which so forcibly presents itself, I must
declare that it is not to the discredit of the early day, any
more than that day was a rebuke to its predecessor. I
believe that you will agree \\4th me, that medical education
offered to students at that day was as nearly abreast of the
education possible for them, as is our present exhibition
an approach to the present possibility. The great difference
in spirit which strikes me as occurring in respect to medical
education in general, lies in the attitude of the public
toward the profession, or, more exactly, of the State toward
the medical school. In this the change is very pronounced
and I believe the advancement is very clear. It is on the
whole a matter for congratulation both to the schools and
the profession at large, that society has seen fit
to demand
that we require of the medical graduates as good an education
as we offer. That this change has been instigated
by the profession, is to its credit and does not qualify the
advantage so far as society is concerned That the means
and methods to this end have been at times unreasonable,
inconvenient, and are in many respects meddlesome, is but
a passing annoyance as compared with the final advantage,
which resides in the fact, that while the public is properly
protected the medical schools are relieved of the embarrassment
of illegitimate competition, and the entire process
operates as a measure whereby there is culled the unfit
material.