The object and order of medical studies / by John Hughes Bennett, M.D.

  • Bennett, John Hughes, 1812-1875.
Date:
1862
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The object and order of medical studies / by John Hughes Bennett, M.D. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    thing to consider is, that such examination should in truth be pre- hminarj to, and not coincident with, professional study. At first, some little laxity may be allowed on this point; but as a permanent rule, it ought in a short time to be rendered stringent, and for this reason :—Four years, as we shall see, form a sufficiently short period to qualify a young man for the duties of his profession ; and it must be obvious that if, during that time, his mind be distracted with the necessity of learning Greek or Latin, Logic or Moral Philosophy, Mathematics or Mechanics, his general and his medical education will both suffer. The regulations laid down by the Medical Council are, that before any one be even allowed to enrol his name as a medi- cal student, he shall have passed a matriculation examination, and before he can present himself to be examined professionally, other acquirements shall be demanded of him. Now, it is very desirable, although at first this has not been rendered compulsory, that all these matters be made preliminary, for the reason I have just stated. In truth, on analysing the nature of the demand so made, 1 find it to be little more than what a well-educated schoolboy, sixteen years of age, ought to pass with facility. It is not advisable that a pro- fessional education should commence before the age of eighteen, or at the earliest seventeen ; so that ample time exists for acquiring the necessary preliminary knowledge. The matriculation examination in this University comprises English, Latin, Arithmetic, the ele- ments of Mathematics, and the elements of Mechanics. Before the candidate can be examined professionally, he must, in addition, pass an examination in two of the following subjects, viz.,—Greek, French, German, Higher Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Logic, and Moral Philosophy. Lastly, to obtain the highest degree, he must have passed Greek, Logic, or Moral Philosophy, and one of the following subjects, viz.,—French, German, Higher Mathematics, and Natural Philosophy. The best plan for any commencing stu- dent, therefore, is, in addition to the matriculation examination, to pass at once, 1st, in Greek; 2d, in either Logic or Moral Philosophy ; and 3d, in one of the subjects just named, whereby he at once gets rid of all preliminary subjects, and is enabled to obtain the highest medical degree without any future disturbance to his professional study. Of the subjects left open to his choice, though all are useful, I have no hesitation in recommending Natural Philosophy, in con- sequence of its vast and daily increasing importance to a just com- prehension of Physiology and a true theory of Medicine. If our public seminaries embrace, as they ought to do, this comprehensive education for a future professional life, I repeat, a young man ought to be prepared for such an examination on leaving school. If they do not, a year spent in preliminary study at a university, in attend- ing two or three classes in the Faculty of Arts, so far from doing harm, will be productive of good. A more extended education, an insight into academic life, and, above all, the extra year's experience