Special report from the Select Committee on the Medical Act (1858) Amendment (No. 3) Bill [Lords] : together with the proceedings of the Committee, minutes of evidence, and appendix.

  • Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on the Medical Act (1858) Amendment (No. 3) Bill.
Date:
1879
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Special report from the Select Committee on the Medical Act (1858) Amendment (No. 3) Bill [Lords] : together with the proceedings of the Committee, minutes of evidence, and appendix. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

    18/456 (page 4)
    Mr. Adand, M.D., F.R.S. l(> June >879- Chairman—continued. Act that it is to be sufficient ?—In Clause 20 : “ In case it appear to the general council that the course of study and examination to be gone through in order to obtain any such qualifica- tion from any such college or body are not such as to secure the possession by persons obtaining such qualification of the requisite knowledge and skill for the efficient practice of their profession, it shall be lawful for such general council to re- present the same to Her Majesty’s Most Honour- able Privy Counciltherefore it is substantially to. fix what might be called the minimum standard, clearly an extremely difficult thing. 43. As I understand what you think was in- trusted to you by Parliament was, first, that you were to find out what were the examinations ; and, secondly, that you were instructed to re- present to the Privy Council any examination which appeared to you not to give the requisite knowledge and skill for efficient practice?— Quite so. 44. Have you ever had to do that ?—It never has been done. 45. Leaving that part of your duties, I see by the 19th section thatyou have power to sanction a com- bination of any two or more of the colleges and bodies in the United Kingdom ; has that brought upon you any work ?—In Scotland there has been limited scale; I will hand in the exact terms of it; in England it has been attempted to combine all the examining bodies in the kingdom into one board; and in Ireland I believe I am correct in saying that it was attempted. But it has never been completely carried out in England or in Scotland, or in Ireland. 46. But in England has it gone beyond a scheme ?—No, it has not gone beyond a scheme ; the scheme is still in abeyance, there having been over 70 conferences on the subject alone of the mode of carrying the scheme out, with Sir James Paget in the chair at every one of them, I be- lieve, without exception. 47. What is the number of examining bodies at the present time ?—Nineteen. 48. What are those 19 bodies ? —Page 76 of this pamphlet which I hand in will give a list of the 19 bodies, which are as follows :—The Royal College of Physicians of London; the Royal College of Surgeons of England ; the Society of Apothecaries of London ; the University of Ox- ford ; the University of Cambridge; the Uni- versity of Durham; the University of London; the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh ; the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh ; the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow; the University of Edinburgh, con- jointly with the University of Aberdeen ; the University of Glasgow, conjointly with the Uni- versity of St. Andrew’s; the King and Queen’s College of Physicians in Ireland; the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland ; the Apothecaries Hall of Ireland; the University of Dublin, and the Queen’s University in Ireland. 49. How many of the examinations by those bodies are for both physicians and surgeons ?-—I will furnish, at the next meeting of the Com- mittee, a complete printed table, because there are several titles and forms of license which are given by the different bodies. They are all tabu- lated in a document which I have here. For in- stance, the Royal College of Physicians of Lon- don gives a license and membership in medicine Chairman—continued. and surgery; the College of Surgeons gives membership for surgery only, a license in mid- wifery, and a fellowship ; the Society of Apothe- caries gives a license ; the University of Oxford gives an M.B , an M.D., with a license to practise medicine and go on the Register; but the Uni- versity of Cambridge not only gives a license in medicine, but also a license in surgery. 50. Do not you do so in Oxford?—-No, we do not, and I will give you the reason, which has an important bearing upon the inquiry of the Com- mittee. It was decided by the University of Oxford as very undesirable to add to the com- plication of the whole question by instituting any new diplomas, and it was decided not to bring forward a new diploma in surgery, because it was believed a few years ago that the great object of the Legislature, and the object of all those who were paying attention to the subject, was to dimmish the multitude of different licences ; and therefore, although Oxford would have been very glad to have had an examination and qualifica.- tion in surgery, they thought it was a public duty not to do it till the question of a conjoint board was settled. 51. Will you, in handing in this statement, also give us the division of the examining bodies into the three classes of medicine and surgery together, medicine or surgery separate, and spe- cial examinations?—Yes. (Inserted after Ques- tion 40.) 52. With regard to the special examinations, will you state what they are? — Besides surgery and medicine there is an examination in mid- wifery, and there are now examinations in- stituted in dental surgery or in dentistry, for which there was a special Act passed last Session. 53. Neither of those, I presume, would be amongst those 19 bodies?—The license in midwifery is attached always to an existing licensing body; it is not an independent body, so that it does not add to the number; it adds to the titles or number of qualifications, but not to the number of examining bodies. 54. You say there has been some combination in Scotland of the two bodies?—At page 9 of the pamphlet which I have handed in, under heading No. 4 : “ The giving sanction and direc- tion to the union of authorities in conducting examinations ;” it says : “ The council has sanc- tioned the conjunction, for the purpose of exa- minations of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons of Edinburgh, and a like conjunc- tion of the Royal College of Physicians of Edin- burgh with the Faculty of Physicians and Sur- geons of Glasgow; and examinations by these bodies have, for nearly 20 years, been conducted in accordance with that sanction.” Then, for the further explanation of the subject of the Chair- man’s question, the next two lines are unim- portant, but it proceeds : “ The council can only give its sanction and direction to proposals for union which may be submitted by any of the authorities. The council is not required or au- thorised to take the initiative or to make any proposals, still less is it empowered to enforce them.” The council cannot take the initiative in this matter at all; it can only proceed under the Act to approve of the conditions. 55. Taking what has been done, there has been a combination of physicians and surgeons at Edinburgh, the result being that a diploma given by