THE MEDICAL STUDENT.
Young men, contemplating the Study and Practice of Medi-
cine as a profession and means of livelihood, naturally ask the
questions—“What are the Qualifications requisite for the be-
ginner?” “What is the Extent and Character of the Course of
Study ?” “What Expense does the Course involve?” “What
are the Opportunities for Success in practice?”
Before entering upon the consideration of these queries, it may
be proper to state that the replies are based chiefly upon the Re-
quirements, the Curriculum, the Course and Methods of the
Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital of Philadelphia. This
is the oldest of the Homoeopathic Medical Colleges of the world,
having been incorporated in 1848. For the past twenty-five years
this School has been an acknowledged leader in all the enterprises
pertaining to the advancement of medical education, and to-day
it has the honor of being abreast of the most advanced schools of
America in each and every department of instruction ; while in
some particulars it claims to lead all others. Whatever is said,
therefore, may be accepted as expressing the views of those repre-
senting the highest and broadest medical culture of America.
QUALIFICATIONS OF THE STUDENT OF MEDICINE.
The qualifications of the student of medicine, or of one prop-
erly contemplating its practice, are of a four-fold nature; namely,
physical, mental, educational and moral.
Physical Qualifications.—Medicine requires, for its effi-
cient practice, the constant use of the “five senses” of the
practitioner, an important part of whose education consists in
the special preparation of these faculties, and in training or
“drilling ” them for the work to which they are to be called.
Hence it is that any material defect, either natural or acquired, of
the senses of hearing, seeing, taste, Smell, or touch, ought to
make one hesitate to engage in medical practice, especially as
human health or life may be imperilled through such defects in
27, 304
2
the physician. The gravest of these defects are those of sight and
hearing, but all the others are serious. So, also, any impairment
of the uses of the arms, hands or fingers, or of the legs and feet,
or, indeed of the general muscular powers, constitutes a serious
disqualification for the study and practice of the medical art.
Mental Qualifications.—Medicine, in both its study and
practice, calls into constant and vigorous exercise the three mental
faculties of Observation, Memory, and Reason. The demands
made upon all of these powers are often so great that the average
mind can meet them only by the exercise of the most incessant
and energetic effort. For this reason it must be said, that those
who are conscious of the possession of deficient powers of observ-
ation, and especially of memory, should not be encouraged to
pursue the study of medicine. And yet, the habit of study, formed
in youth and maintained in manhood, together with a suitable
general education, will go far to overcome slight deficiencies in
these particulars, and, in all medical colleges, are observed to
determine the net result of the student’s efforts in a large pro-
portion of cases. A fondness for the branches of Natural Science,
especially Physics, Chemistry, Botany and Physiology, is most
advantageous to any one entering upon the study and practice of
medicine; while a positive dislike for such studies is a good reason
for choosing some other vocation.
Educational Qualifications.—A thorough Course of Study
in Medicine impresses every thoughtful student with his need of
a broader and more thorough preliminary education. Hence, it
is impossible for such fundamental training to be too extended or
too profound. But, while preliminary studies in almost any de-
partment may be of use to the student in his college work,
certain of them seem more or less absolutely essential to enable
him to make creditable progress and keep pace with his fellows;
and there are certain branches, also, that are required to enable
the student to comprehend the subjects taught in a medical course.
A brief statement of these requirements will be sufficient.
(a) No person can be considered qualified for the study of
medicine who does not possess the ability to use the English lan-
guage correctly (grammatically) in his ordinary conversation, or
who cannot write a lengthy letter without misspelling words, mis-
placing or omitting capitals or failing to properly punctuate its
3
sentences. Medical Colleges, recognizing the importance of this
reasonable requirement, are exacting, each succeeding year, a more
rigid compliance with it in their entrance examinations.
(b) The knowledge of Mathematics requisite to a medical
course includes Vulgar Fractions, Decimals, Percentage, Propor-
tion, Square and Cube Root and the “Decimal System ’’ of
weights and measures. Evidence of this knowledge is exacted at
the entrance examinations. Besides this, it is highly important
that the student possess a knowledge of the Terms and principal
Rules of Mensuration ; this knowledge being required in the study
of Anatomy, Physiology, Obstetrics, Ophthalmology, etc. It is
advantageous to include also the more elementary rules of Algebra,
especially as any student of average capacity, having the requisite
knowledge of Arithmetic, as above defined, can acquire the addi-
tional attainment by a few weeks of study at home, with an ele-
mentary text-book.
(c) A knowledge of Latin, sufficient to show a fair compre-
hension of scientific terms and formulae employed in Medicine, is
also required by all the higher grade medical schools. This acquire-
ment adds so largely to the student’s capacity as to more than Com-
pensate for the time and labor necessary to attain it. Indeed, it
would be better if the familiarity with Latin were extended much
beyond the actual requirement of the college rules.
In addition to the “Requirements” as above set forth, it is
eminently advantageous for the student, before entering college,
to make himself familiar with some work on general Physics, or
Natural Philosophy. This branch is of such pre-eminent import-
ance in a preparatory medical course, and is, withal, so unaccount-
ably neglected in our ordinary educational systems, that all medi-
cal schools have found it necessary to include it in the curriculum
of regular studies. It is much better, however, that the student
acquire it before entering college.
Moral Qualifications.—It is essential to the make-up of
the physician that he shall be a gentleman, not merely in his out-
ward manner and apparel, but in his inward sentiments and
instincts. Coarseness and brutality, bragging, Swaggering, and all
forms of vulgarity are unfailingly the signs, and too commonly the
attendants, of ignorance. Intemperance, profanity, dishonesty
and all the low forms of dissipation are consideréd, by college
faculties, sufficient reasons for refusing the Medical Degree to a
4.
candidate, no matter what his educational attainments may be.
No young man, conscious of these defects in his character and
habits, should think of trying to secure an entrance into the pro-
fession of medicine.
Respecting the qualifications of physicians there is no higher
medical authority than Hahnemann. Speaking on this subject,
he says: “From this God-serving and noblest of earthly occu-
pations let all hold aloof who are deficient in mind, in the
judicial spirit, in any of the branches of knowledge required
for its exercise, or in tender regard for the weal of mankind and a
sense of duty to humanity ; in one word, who are deficient in true
virtue: Away with that unhallowed crew who merely assume the
outward semblance of health restorers, but whose heads are full
of vain deceit, whose hearts are stuffed with wicked frivolity,
whose tongues make a mock of truth, and whose hands prepare
disaster.”
In brief, the medical profession needs men of physical perfec-
tion, possessed of at least an average degree of mental capacity,
studious tastes, a good English education and a rudimentary
knowledge of Latin, of high moral sentiments and correct moral
habits, and of refined and gentlemanly bearing and instincts. To
such it extends the welcoming hand of fraternity.
There are many young men desirous of entering the medical
profession, who, while properly qualified in many respects, are
unfortunately deficient in their educational attainments. Such
men often think to overcome this disqualification by a more earn-
est and prolonged pursuit of medical studies proper. This is a
most serious mistake; one which, if it could be followed out at
all, would operate to the disadvantage of the whole subsequent
career. Under such conditions there is but one course to be pur-
sued; namely, a systematic study and preparation, with or with-
out a teacher, in the branches mentioned in these pages as
necessary precedents to a course in medicine. As an encourage-
ment to such efforts it may be said that surprising progress can be
made by those of average mental capacity, even though these
studies must be pursued during the intervals of business activity.
In this way it is practicable for even the average pupil of our com-
mon schools to complete his studies and fit himself for an entrance
examination in a medical college Moreover, the young aspirant
for medical honors who may find himself unwilling to subject his
mental powers to this preliminary discipline, has grave reason to
5
doubt his ability to obtain entrance to even a second-rate medical
college, much less to ever secure its Degree. The only kind
advice we can give to such an one is to abandon the thought of
medical studies altogether.
To other young men who expect, sooner or later, to enter a
medical college, and whose preliminary education includes all the
branches mentioned as essential prerequisites, our most urgent
advice is that the time yet to be passed before entering college
should be devoted to such studies as physics, general chemistry,
biology, zoölogy and botany. A course in German or French may
also be pursued to great subsequent advantage. Until all these
preparatory branches are quite well mastered it is best to defer the
regular branches of the medical course; though a general read-
ing—not memorizing—of works on Anatomy and Physiology,
referring to the Medical Dictionary for every unfamiliar word,
might be undertaken with much profit. It must be remembered,
however, that the only place where any great progress can be
made in the beginnings of medical studies is in a medical college,
and under the constant direction and aid of skillful and experienced
teachers supplied with ample facilities for illustration and demon-
stration.
THE COURSE OF MEDICAL STUDY.
Under the conditions of general education prevailing in the
United States the course of study in medicine necessarily differs
somewhat from that pursued in most European countries in this
particular : that it includes instruction in certain preparatory
branches, which, in the older countries, is always acquired in the
academy or literary college. In all first-class medical colleges in
this country the studies of the course may be arranged in four
classes, corresponding somewhat, though not closely, with the
four years of college work. The first class embraces what may be
designated the “preparatory” branches—Physics, General Chem-
istry, Elementary Biology, Botany, Zoology, History of Medicine,
Microscopy, Medical Terminology, etc.
The second class of studies includes Anatomy, Physiology,
Medical Chemistry, Materia Medica and Pharmacy, General Path-
ology, Institutes of Medicine, etc. These may be considered as
the fundamental medical branches, on which the more practical
studies are said to be based.
6
The third class of studies comprehends Special Pathology,
Diagnosis, Therapeutics, Surgery, Obstetrics, Hygiene; also Prac-
tical Exercises in all these departments.
The fourth class of bránches embraces what are known as the
“Specialties,” such as Ophthalmology, Otology and Laryngology,
Gynaecology, Dermatology, Neurology, Physical Diagnosis, Paedia-
trics, Medical Jurisprudence, etc., etc.
Practically, in the collegiate Course, these “classes” overlap
each other in many instances and several of the studies are pur-
sued through two or more years. But, whatever may be the
arrangement of studies in the curriculum, the entire course cannot
be mastered in less than four full collegiate years. If, however,
the student has enjoyed the privileges of a regular college course
and has obtained the Degree in Arts or in Science, with suitable
courses in Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Botany, Zoology, Anatomy
and Physiology, he is admitted to the Second Year and Class of
College studies, thereby reducing his Medical College Course to
three years. This rule obtains in all medical schools in America.
In Hahnemann College the same rule applies to graduates in
Dentistry, Pharmacy, and Veterinary medicine.
THE COST OF A MEDICAL EDUCATION.
The expense of a college education in medicine is as much
subject to variation as in other departments of knowledge. The
time devoted to the work of instruction by the teachers, their
experience and skill, the expense of college and hospital mainten-
ance, and, more than all else, perhaps, the facilities provided for
the full elucidation and demonstration of each subject taught, in-
cluding the support of well-equipped and costly laboratories—all
these vary in the different colleges, and the college fees vary
correspondingly. In all the most renowned Schools of America,
and especially in all those in which the whole energy of the
Collegiate Corporation is concentrated upon the single object of
medical education (as contrasted with a University) the fees vary
from one hundred to one hundred and fifty dollars for each college
term. Besides these Term fees there is a Matriculation fee of five
dollars and a Graduation fee of thirty dollars, and there are small
charges for dissecting material and for “breakage ’’ in the labora-
tories. Add for books and instruments, a further sum of about
one hundred dollars, and the reader can compute the probable
7
total expense of a course of study in a first-class college and
Hospital.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR SUCCESS IN THE PROFESSION OF
MEDICINE.
It is sometimes said that the profession of medicine is over-
crowded. The same complaint is heard respecting law, divinity,
school-teaching, agriculture, manufacturing and commercial busi-
ness, and nearly all the mechanical trades. In nearly all cases
these complaints are based on a misapprehension of the facts. It
is true that a certain small proportion of those who graduate in
medicine afterwards drift into other lines of business, but the
same phenomenon is to be seen in relation to all other forms and
departments of industry. Of those who fail to win success in
medical practice and finally abandon it, a portion would fail under
any circumstances, simply because they prove to be but imperfectly
adapted to its duties and responsibilities. But these failures are
not more common in medicine than in other avocations.
Even if we admit that America has more physicians than are
actually needed—which, considering the sparsity of her popula-
tion, as compared with that of Europe, is extremely doubtful—
yet it is well known that in reference to homoeopathic physicians
no such statement is correct. The United States is not at all
adequately supplied with physicians of the homoeopathic school,
nor is it likely to be for years to come. An examination of the
Medical Directory of the United States, published by R. L. Polk
& Co., will show that there are hundreds and hundreds of towns
and cities in this country, having populations varying from a few
hundreds to several thousands, in which there is not a single
homoeopathic physician ; besides hundreds of other towns and
cities in which there are abundant opportunities for additional
physicians of that “school.” So that the well-schooled medical
graduate (and no physician is well-schooled unless his College
education has included a course in homoeopathy) has every reason
to anticipate for himself an honorable and lucrative business.
Homoeopathy, as a system of medical practice, is just com-
pleting its first hundred years. It is no longer an experiment, but
an established and potent factor in our scientific and social world,
and as likely to be permanent as any other doctrine now held in
the whole realm of art and science. This system at the present
* . . tº
; : * > . .
• * g
*
* r * s * @
* ... • * • , a
sº *

8 3 9015 |||| -
time has over twelve thousand practitioners in the United States;
and they are as widely known and as highly distinguished for their
1earning and skill as are other physicians in this and other coun-
tries. They are filling positions of honor, in colleges, hospitals
and societies, in literature, in sanitary boards and other govern-
mental relations, equally with their fellows of other “schools,”
and before the present generation shall have passed away there will
not be a governmental position of honor and trust in the United
States which homoeopathic physicians may not reach with the same
ease and certainty as those of any other sect. The constantly
growing popularity of the new system of medicine and the ever
increasing influence of its practitioners in all governmental and
social relations seem to make the homoeopathic profession of
medicine one of the most inviting and promising avenues open to
those whose physical, moral and intellectual qualifications fit
them for its duties and responsibilities.
A WORD ABOUT HAHNEMANN TIEDICAL COLLEGE AND
HOSPITAL.
Hahnemann College is, as already shown, nearly half a cen-
tury old. During her history she has educated and graduated
more than two thousand physicians, and in her several classes she
now has a total of above two hundred and fifty students in annual
attendance. The institution occupies more than an acre of ground
on Broad Street, near the centre of the city, with buildings includ-
ing lecture-rooms, anatomical and clinical amphitheatres, dissect-
ing-room, laboratories, rooms for practical exercises in surgery,
obstetrics, etc., library, a museum, a half dozen clinic-rooms with
their unequalled conveniences, a vast dispensary and a magnifi-
cently constructed and equipped hospital—five immense buildings,
involving, with their equipment, a cost of more than half a million
of dollars, devoted to the education of medical practitioners. To
illustrate the subjects taught and familiarize the student with the
diagnosis and treatment of diseases and injuries, there are received,
in the various departments of the institution, over twenty thousand
patients annually, besides several thousand “accident” cases.
As may well be supposed, the expense of managing and maintain-
ing this vast benevolent enterprise is enormous, and the advantages
it brings to the student, seeking a medical education within its
walls, are correspondingly great.
e ſº
• : tº sº. * s" - º *
g iº r • * *
* * * g-
Q º & sº
& * *
* wº ge