The relations of the medical profession to modern education : an address delivered at the commencement of the Medical Department of the University of Vermont, June 16, 1869 / by Edward S. Dunster.

  • Dunster, Edward S. (Edward Swift), 1834-1888.
Date:
1870
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The relations of the medical profession to modern education : an address delivered at the commencement of the Medical Department of the University of Vermont, June 16, 1869 / by Edward S. Dunster. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    imcler the old method. Some of the profoimdest classical scholars that our universities have produced have been the most bitter opponents of the old system of education; and in England, famous for its conservatism and attachment to tra- ditional systems, the changes wliicli have been brought about can be directly traced to the efforts of her most brilliant classi- cal scholars. There seems to have been a very general con- viction that their culture had been disqualifying for their lot in life, their studies misdii’ected, and their time misspent. Looking at it, then, as we do, from an outside point of view, it is clearly evident that we have fallen upon a transition- period, when the old is to be in a large degree abandoned, and the new is to be arranged. How far the two shall be united—for it woidd be eminently disastrous to entirely abolisli tlie first—it is difficult to say ; but the unmistakable tendency is toward the scientific studies. The tide has set in so strongly in their favor that it cannot be turned back, and he who opposes it must beware lest he be SAvept away and overwhelmed in the torrent. The opinion of the people has been taken, and the verdict which they have rendered must be accepted as conclusive. Education is every day becoming more and more a serious matter of training the yoimg for meeting and sur- mounting the realities and responsibilities of every-day life— the mathematics and the laimanities must be subordinated to the physical sciences. This may be a material and utilitarian vieAV of things, but for this I am not responsible. It is the view Avhich the masses of the people have taken of it, and it is my business now sim- ply to state the case as it forces itself upon my observation, with- out allowing my predilections to influence judgment of the fact. It may be well, however, to remember that, although the issue . is a material one to a certain extent, it is not directly betAveen money-making, on the one hand, and a broad, dignified, and refining cidture on the other, as the strict classicists are fond of asserting. The real issue lies far deeper than this, and is to be sought for in the problems and responsibilities of life, AA’hich, in a thousand different shapes pertaining to our social and material advancement, are crowding upon us every day, and AA’hich can neither be evaded nor postponed. These prob-