Introductory lecture to the course of materia medica and pharmacy, in the University of Pennsylvania / by George B. Wood, M.D.

  • Wood, George B. (George Bacon), 1797-1879.
Date:
1848
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Introductory lecture to the course of materia medica and pharmacy, in the University of Pennsylvania / by George B. Wood, M.D. 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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    proportionally in this than in the southern section of the island, or in Ireland; and that, as with us, they perform all the offices of the profession; some directing a more exclusive attention to the pure practice of medicine, others to surgery, and others again to obstetrics. There is, however, a distinct body of surgeons, who practise under the license of the Edinburgh College of Sur- geons, the Glasgow Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons, or some similar institution, without having obtained a degree. I heard of no class precisely analogous to the apothecaries or general practitioners of England. The bodies having the right to confer the degree of Doctor of Medicine in Scotland, are the Universities of Edinburgh, Glas- gow, Aberdeen, and St. Andrews, and the King's College of Aberdeen. Of these, the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen, have medical schools connected with them, exactly as the University of Pennsylvania. All profess to require four years of attendance upon medical lectures; and most of the courses of lectures are required to be of six months' duration, which is the case also in the English schools. Besides these graduating institutions, there are three which have the power of licensing; namely, the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, and the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. There is a respectable medical school in Glasgow, connected with the institution called commonly, from its founder, the Anderson University, which has not, however, I believe, any legal collegiate powers. The observations already incidentally made will spare me the necessity of speaking further of the general character of the medical profession in the British Islands. Upon the whole, I presume, their relative social standing is equal or superior to that of the profession in any other country in Europe, though inferior to that which is enjoyed in the United States, where, I am proud to say, the medical men as a body maintain a position with the highest, whether we take, as a measure of elevation, extent of attainment, sentiments of honour and of humanity, cultivation of manner, or the respect of the community. There is, however, one point of which I would speak before I close. I wish to call your attention emphatically to the hospi- table qualities of the medical practitioners of the United King- dom, and especially to their kindly disposition towards their