270 HUMAN DISSECTION. ITS DRAMA AND STRUGGLE 



Dissections had to be made quickly, within a week, for ob- 

 vious reasons, and students often worked all night. 



Between 1765 and 1852, at least thirteen riots, possibly more, 

 occurred within the United States. These took place in the states 

 of Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsyl- 

 vania and Vermont. They included mob attacks on the homes 

 of anatomists, hospitals, medical schools and a hotel. The worst 

 that happened was the closing or demolition of schools; also, one 

 professor of anatomy was seriously shot in the arm and paralyzed 

 for life, a student was killed, police were sometimes badly beaten 

 and on one occasion the militia was called out. 



More changes have probably occurred in anatomical teach- 

 ing in the United States in the past fifty years than in any other 

 country. At the turn of the century, many fly-by-night medical 

 schools existed, standards were low, competition was keen and the 

 cost per student was high; most teachers were part-time surgeons, 

 whose income was derived from their practice, and they taught 

 authoritatively. Numerous standardizing agencies, official and un- 

 official, entered the picture, and collectively asserted that anatomy, 

 in spite of its great importance, was in bad repute; in fact, they 

 agreed that conditions bordered on the deplorable, the classes 

 were overcrowded and anatomical departments lacked sufficient 

 financial support. This eventually resulted in the following: em- 

 ployment of full-time teachers, shortening of clock-hours, inclu- 

 sion of microscopic subjects and more monetary backing. This 

 led to the almost total disappearance of the surgeon-anatomist 

 who chose practice rather than teaching, and it marked the be- 

 ginning of an influx of teachers with graduate school training. 



One of the agencies responsible for determining the stand- 

 ards of student knowledge in medicine generally, has been the 

 National Board of Examiners. In the past, with the essay type 

 of exams in anatomy, they have referred to a maze of anatomic 

 detail and the recent shift to the objective type may not have 

 basically altered this situation. Unquestionably, a broad grasp 

 of the subject is necessary to successfully cope with them. 



Although the educators on the investigating committees of 

 several organizations, in the past, Iiave placed great value on ilu 



