Introductory lecture ... at the opening of the session 1875-76 of the Edinburgh Royal Veterinary College, 27th October 1875 / by John G. McKendrick, M.D., F.R.S.E.

  • McKendrick, John G. (John Gray), 1841-1926.
Date:
1875
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Introductory lecture ... at the opening of the session 1875-76 of the Edinburgh Royal Veterinary College, 27th October 1875 / by John G. McKendrick, M.D., F.R.S.E. 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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    cated men. They ought to be conversant, equally with students of medicine, with those sciences on which the art of medicine is founded; and they ought to have equally good opportunities of acquiring a practical knowledge of the pro- fession. So long as they have an inferior training to the student of human medicine, so long wi]l they occupy an in- ferior position in public estimation. It is satisfactory, how- ever, to be able to say that, year by year, defects in the education, both elementary and professional, of our Veter- inary Students, are being remedied. A superior class of men now study the profession and adopt it as the work of their lives. Notwithstanding these improvements, however, I have no hesitation in saying that the present curriculum of study is far from being satisfactory, and must be regarded as being in a transitionary state. In the first place, the preliminary ex- amination in general education is somewhat deficient. Students are often not so well acquainted with the elements of a good middle-class English education as they ought to be. In the next place, too much has to be done in the time allotted to professional study. Within two years from the time of en- tering the College, the student is expected to have acquired an elementary knowledge of chemistry, botany, the anatomy of the domestic animals, physiology, pathology, materia medica, and Veterinary medicine and surgery. In addition to this, he endeavours to acquire a practical knowledge of disease and its treatment, by the examination of sick animals, and also he must be familiar with all the operations practised in Veterinary surgery. Much the same course of study occupies the student of medicine for at least four years. It is evident, therefore, that the Veterinary student must either work more diligently, or have a more elementary knowledge, than the student of medicine. The truth probably is, that the average student of Veter-