158 MADGE THURLOW MACKLIN 



heredity as an etiological factor. Thirdly, if any definite attempt is made 

 in the medical course to instruct students in the principles of inheritance 

 as illustrated in the heredity of various diseases, this discussion is given in 

 the preclinical courses, before the student has any knowledge of the disease 

 discussed. Hence theory, rather than practical observation, forms a part 

 of the subject. 



Inasmuch as the practitioner in his student days has been taught little of 

 inheritance in disease; and has not had his interest aroused as to its signifi- 

 cance, he fails most frequently to record his own observations in this field, 

 or if he records them, they may be in such form as to furnish little of useful 

 information to the trained scientist, studying inheritance of disease in man. 



Until the medical practitioner is made aware of the importance of heredity 

 as an etiological factor in the production of disease, he will not be apt to have 

 a sympathetic attitude toward public education nor toward any scheme 

 which may be devised to curtail the heavy economic waste of caring for the 

 hereditarily defective. For these reasons, a sound eugenic measure, and 

 one which will bring in large returns in professional and public interest, and 

 which will serve to give far more data on human inheritance than we have 

 at present, is the agitation to have taught in every medical school, not 

 only a more extensive course of the fundamentals of genetics in premedical 

 courses, but the application of this science to problems of human disease. 

 This course should be taught by a medically trained person, familiar 

 with the field of genetics, and it should be taught during the final year of 

 the medical course, when the student has become familiar with the signs 

 and symptoms of disease. 



