History of medical practice in Illinois - Bushnell Historical Society

238 History of Medical Practice in Illinoisfrom the medical centers in the eastern United States and from abroad,especially from England, Germany and France.Bacteriology, pathology and a knowledge of anesthetic drugs did muchto round out the medical education of these men and to help them betterunderstand the fundamental problems involved in specialized obstetricand gynecologic cases. As yet, however, the facilities for proper study inthese branches were woefully lacking. Proper management in the home hadimproved but still left much to be desired. Only a few of the more seriousand complicated cases were admitted to the hospitals which were not wellequipped to care for maternity cases.While there were no institutions which could be called lying-in hospitalsin the state at that time, there were men who knew what should be done toremedy the difficulties and who pointed them out clearly. The fruits oftheir early efforts were already beginning to be discerned by the end of thecentury in the form of better educational facilities, better hospitals, anda better understanding of the problems by the nursing profession and thelaity.Stimulated by a common interest,these pioneer physicians banded togetherto form the first gynecological society in Illinois. By their jointefforts much wheat, as it were, already separated from the chaff, was movingwestward from its origin in England, Germany and France and from thelarge eastern centers of medical education in this country. It was greatlyto their credit that in practically every instance, they evaluated new ideascorrectly and passed on by their endorsement only those which have provedvaluable.Reading between the lines, we are conscious of the efforts which theseearly men put forth to found in Illinois schools, hospitals and postgraduatefacilities which have compared favorably with the best in the United States.It is significant that they did this on their own time without direct financialremuneration, often contributing money as well as effort to the establishmentof what they felt was good for the community and for medicine. Wehonor and thank them for their accomplishments, and in the words of theimmortal Lincoln, "dedicate ourselves to the great unfinished task whichthey who struggled here have thus far so nobly advanced."