A letter to the Right Hon. Robert Peel ... on some of the impediments, defects and abuses existing in the present system of medical education : with suggestions for their removal and correction / by Henry William Dewhurst.

Date:
1828
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A letter to the Right Hon. Robert Peel ... on some of the impediments, defects and abuses existing in the present system of medical education : with suggestions for their removal and correction / by Henry William Dewhurst. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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

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    teach him, according to the modern acceptation of the word. Such, Sir, is not the case j he is a slave, and a drudge j and, in after life, frequently looks back with disgust on the scenes which he passed in his earlier years. * In all other trades and professions, a youth, at the expiration of the time expressed in his indentures, is able to follow his business, either as a master, or journeyman to another. In our profession, when his time has expired, all he can do, is to com- mence his studies, or obtain a situation as dispensing assistant,t by which he may receive as a reward for his labours, sixteen or twenty pounds a year; nay, frequently, after he has passed his examinations, received his diploma, or perhaps has ob- tained the degree of M. D. can seldom obtain more than thirty poun«ls per year ; this is degrading, if not alllicting, to the mind of the student and his friends. Previous to stating my remedy for the existing evil, it is necessary I should inform you what the youth has to accjuire, after he is out of his time, in a period of eighteen months, or at most, two years. For an account of the lectures, &c. he is compelled to attend, I take the liberty of referring you to the Appendix, J I'o iicquire a perfect knowledge of any one of these branches, will require not merely a few months, but at least two years, to perfect a student for practiee, either public or private: “ In fact, the present system of medical education in Great Britain is a disgrace to this enlightened age j it is one that loudly calls for reform, which, if once accomplished, and properly orga- nized, would prove a real blessing to mankind; as it is, it is one of its greatest curses.” The remedy I shall propose will, I have not the least doubt, excite opposition among the general body of practitioners, who profit by tbe present system. But who can say, I speak not the truth ? It is the truth : I promulgate my opinions for the public good, and I trust no personal ill-will will on this account be created against me. * See a valuable paper on this subject in the London Afedical Gazette, No. 35, August 2, 1828. f His apprentice fee was probably between one and three hundred pounds. t Nos. I. and H.