Introductory lecture, delivered at the opening of the session of the Medical College of S. Carolina : on the second Monday in November, 1837 / by Thomas Y. Simons.

  • Simons, Thomas Y. (Thomas Young), 1798-1857.
Date:
1838
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Introductory lecture, delivered at the opening of the session of the Medical College of S. Carolina : on the second Monday in November, 1837 / by Thomas Y. Simons. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

    9/34
    L E C T U It E Gentlemen, It becomes ray duty, at the opening of this session of our College, and in accordance with the request of my colleagues, to deliver an Introductory Lecture, explain- ing and impressing upon you the importance of the different branches of studies, which are comprised in a medical education. In the discharge of this trust, I must be explicit and candid. I feel it incumbent upon me, therefore, to state, in the commencement, abrupt as it may seem, and startling as the fact may be, that many young physicians come forward as practitioners, incompetent to the discharge of the offices of their profession, from a want of practical knowledge, the opportunities for obtaining which they have neglected; and so ignorant of the sciences with which it is associated, as to render it almost impossible for them hereafter to receive much benefit either from observation or experience. Nay, further, that many aspire more to the attainment of a medical degree, than that acquisition of knowledge which can alone make a degree valuable or useful. It is, hence, a high sense of moral obligation on my part, to prove to you the great importance, and to impress upon you the necessity, as well as high moral obligation on your parts, to obtain a proper knowledge of those branches of medical studies which are necessary to form an accomplished, useful, and good practical physician.