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History of medical practice in Illinois - Bushnell Historical Society

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Medical Education <strong>in</strong> Ill<strong>in</strong>ois 425NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL(CHICAGO MEDICAL COLLEGE)By SAMUEL J. JONES, M.D. 7ALTHOUGH this school had had a corporate existence <strong>of</strong> but 31 years,Lthe <strong>in</strong>stitution known s<strong>in</strong>ce 1891 as Northwestern University MedicalSchool has been the pioneer <strong>in</strong> at least four reforms which have radicallyaffected the course <strong>of</strong> <strong>medical</strong> education <strong>in</strong> the United States.1. From the first the founders <strong>of</strong> the school established a high standard<strong>of</strong> atta<strong>in</strong>ments for the required admission <strong>of</strong> students <strong>of</strong> medic<strong>in</strong>e. In thewords <strong>of</strong> Dr. Hosmer A. Johnson, one <strong>of</strong> itsfounders, "they consideredmedic<strong>in</strong>e as a liberal pr<strong>of</strong>ession, and they determ<strong>in</strong>ed to strive for thebroadest and most liberal culture on the part <strong>of</strong> those who should cometo them for <strong>in</strong>struction." The result <strong>of</strong> this determ<strong>in</strong>ation was that, althoughthe class <strong>in</strong> attendance upon the first course <strong>of</strong> lectures was small,its members consisted <strong>of</strong> young men who enjoyed a more thorough education<strong>in</strong> the sciences and the classics than the students usually found <strong>in</strong> the<strong>medical</strong> schools <strong>of</strong> this country. This is one <strong>of</strong> the four beneficial reforms<strong>in</strong> the <strong>medical</strong> education <strong>of</strong> the country which orig<strong>in</strong>ated with the <strong>in</strong>stitutionnow known as Northwestern University Medical School.2. With this enforcement <strong>of</strong> a standard <strong>of</strong> prelim<strong>in</strong>ary education was theestablishment and development <strong>of</strong> "the graded curriculum, by which adef<strong>in</strong>ite number <strong>of</strong> branches are assigned to each year <strong>in</strong> such natural orderthat the mastery <strong>of</strong> one group makes the mastery <strong>of</strong> the next easier and theaccomplishment <strong>of</strong> the whole more comprehensive and complete." As atfirst adopted <strong>in</strong> 1859, the curriculum embraced two courses <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>struction.The studies embraced by the first course were theoretical—designed for7 Dr. Samuel J. Jones (1836-1901) was for many years a dist<strong>in</strong>guished member <strong>of</strong> thefaculty <strong>of</strong> the Chicago Medical College (now Northwestern University Medical School).He was one <strong>of</strong> the early physicians <strong>in</strong> Ill<strong>in</strong>ois to specialize <strong>in</strong> ophthalmology and otology(1870). His contributions are volum<strong>in</strong>ous and many appear <strong>in</strong> the early Transactions <strong>of</strong>the Ill<strong>in</strong>ois State Medical <strong>Society</strong>. Dr. Jones was the first Head <strong>of</strong> the Eye and EarDepartments <strong>of</strong> both St. Luke's and Mercy Hospitals.In the volume on Medical and Dental Colleges <strong>of</strong> the West already referred to, Dr.Jones wrote a comprehensive history <strong>of</strong> Northwestern University Medical School. S<strong>in</strong>ce itappears to be the most <strong>in</strong>clusive history <strong>of</strong> that school up to that time (1897), tri e<strong>History</strong> Committee has chosen to repr<strong>in</strong>t selected portions for Volume II. In abbreviatedform, this chapter will present the history <strong>of</strong> approximately the first forty years <strong>of</strong> theNorthwestern University Medical School <strong>of</strong> Chicago—Editor

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