A lecture on practical education in medicine, and on the course of instruction at the N.Y. Hospital : delivered at the hospital, Nov. 3, 1846 / by John Watson.

  • Watson, John, 1807-1863.
Date:
1846
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A lecture on practical education in medicine, and on the course of instruction at the N.Y. Hospital : delivered at the hospital, Nov. 3, 1846 / by John Watson. 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.)

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    I firmary. In consequence of their exertions the Royal Infirmary of that city was founded in 1738, and was soon afterwards in a condition for the reception of patients. Here Cullen, prior to 1756, the year of his appoint- ment to the chair of Medicine in the University, had already begun his clinical lectures, attracting to his wards young men from every part of the civilized world, and building up a school to be for many years the first in magnitude, as it was first in the talents of its teachers. As at Edinburgh, so in this country, and particularly in this city—one of the first efforts on the part of the projectors of the medical school con- nected with King's, or, as it is now called, Columbia College, was for establishing the New York Hospital. In the year 1769, through the exertions of Dr. Baird, Middleton, and Jones, professors in our first school of medicine, aided by some of the most public-spirited of their fellow citizens, a subscription for this object was undertaken. The Society of the New York Hospital was organized and chartered, in 1771; and in 1773, was laid the foundation of the building which we are at this moment occupying. But interrupted by a conflagration, and by the subsequent events of the Revolution, this house was not in a condition for the reception of patients until the 3d of January, 1791. Ever since that period the Governors of the Hospital have been enlarging its accommodations, and extending its sphere of use- fulness, in pace with their pecuniary resources, and the increasing ne- cessities of this growing city. It is not my purpose on the present occasion to trace the general movements of practical education beyond our own borders. I have not again to speak of it except so far as it has been connected with this Hospital. Here, and up to the opening of the college dispensaries, here only, have the students of medicine in this city been taught to look for it. The Society whose charitable purposes have been so admirably carried out in establishing this Hospital, and which, through a Board of twenty-six Governors, has still the ultimate control of it, is composed of some of the most influential, enlightened, and benevolent of our fellow citizens. The Board of Governors have the immediate charge of all that relates to the Hospital proper, as well as to the Lunatic Asylum at Blooming- dale, which is a part of the same institution. They have the appoint- ment of all the officers, medical as well as others. They have the management of the finances, and the care of the property. And through their several committees, they supervise the reception and discharge of patients, the internal economy of the several departments, and the com- fort and accommodation of the inmates. In a word, they exercise the most watchful and scrutinising supervision over all that concerns the prosperity of the Institution, and the purposes for which it was originally founded. The funds of the Hospital are derived in part from a State annuity, in part from the general government of the United States for the board of a hundred seamen, and in small part from pay patients. The Governors, the attending Physicians and Surgeons, and their assistants, receive no remuneration either directly or indirectly for their services. And with the exception of a few salaries to the superintendent, clerk, nurses, and servants, the whole of the moneys accruing to the institution, are ap- propriated to the support and maintenance of the sick.