One half of the Johns Hopkins bequest is devoted to the establishment of
a hospital, and it was the desire of the testator that the university
and the hospital should co-operate in the promotion of medical
education. The trustees will unquestionably take the best advice that is
to be had as to the construction and administration of the hospital. In
respect to the former point, they will doubtless remember that a
hospital may be so arranged as to kill more than it cures; and, in
regard to the latter, that a hospital may spread the spirit of pauperism
among the well-to-do, as well as relieve the sufferings of the
destitute. It is not for me to speak on these topics--rather let me
confine myself to the one matter on which my experience as a student of
medicine, and an examiner of long standing, who has taken a great
interest in the subject of medical education, may entitle me to a
hearing. I mean the nature of medical education itself, and the
co-operation of the university in its promotion.
What is the object of medical education? It is to enable the
practitioner, on the one hand, to prevent disease by his knowledge of
hygiene; on the other hand, to divine its nature, and to alleviate or
cure it, by his knowledge of pathology, therapeutics, and practical
medicine.
Pages:
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111