Page:Anon 1830 Remarks on some proposed alterations in the course of medical education.djvu/13

 the gout and men for the gravel, one for the belly and another for the brain, these reformers seem to regard medical knowledge and medical practice as in a nutshell,—as already perfect and complete. Medicine with them is no longer ars conjecturalis,—its facts are all discovered, and its principles laid down; all that remains to be done is to polish and adorn its high priests by philosophy and the belles lettres, by criticism and by Greek.

A serious objection to compulsorily superadding to the acquisition of medical science a long catalogue of miscellaneous general and extraneous studies, appears entirely to be overlooked. By directing a candidate’s mind to these branches as essential to graduation, he must devote equal attention to them as to those strictly professional. When he commences practice, he either cherishes or forsakes them; if the former, he exercises his intellect on subjects of a speculative, as opposed to those of a practical nature; and he calls into action, and cultivates a class of faculties and habits of thought, very different from those most useful and efficient in medical practice. If, on the other hand, he abandon them, then, to say the least, his labour has been vain and unprofitable.

If the proposed regulations are carried into effect, one result is immediate and apparent,—the course of probationary study must be greatly prolonged, and the number of lectures to be attended increased. The gates of physic,