538 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXX. No. 773 



medical school supported by the great re- 

 sources of this university means much, 

 therefore, as I have already stated, for the 

 progress of medicine in this country, and 

 the medical profession is to be congratu- 

 lated on your determination to begin a 

 medical department. 



It may not be inappropriate at this time, 

 before an academic audience, to discuss the 

 possibilities of a career in medicine and 

 present-day preparation for it, incident- 

 ally considering some of the many prob- 

 lems of medical education and indicating 

 the magnitude of the task that lies before 

 this institution in developing a medical de- 

 partment that shall be a credit to the foim- 

 dation so bountifully provided by Leland 

 Stanford for a great university in this 

 glorious state of the Pacific slope. 



If I may be permitted to subdivide this 

 audience, I will address myself especially 

 now to the students present and indicate, 

 as best I can, what a career in medicine has 

 to offer those who undertake the study of 

 medicine. I would have you consider medi- 

 cine broadly as one of the biologic sciences 

 to be entered into after a collegiate train- 

 ing with some knowledge of others of the 

 group of scientific studies, more especially 

 of chemistry, physics and zoology. After 

 the preliminary training the prospective 

 medical student must devote four years to 

 medical studies, and at the end of these 

 years he should enter a hospital for one or 

 two years of practical work; in all, six 

 years of medical training. At the expira- 

 tion of these years he may do one of several 

 things : he may begin the practise of medi- 

 cine; he may become a surgeon, a medical 

 consultant or a specialist; he may choose 

 teaching and investigation, or he may de- 

 vote his energies to public health work. 

 Here is a wide variety of possibilities for 

 his selection. "Which is he to take 1 Per- 

 sonal desire and adaptability are important 

 factors in the choice. Each offers its own 



attractions and rewards, measured often by 

 different standards. 



To the many in our medical schools the 

 practise of medicine will open its doors and 

 to most of you this work — that of the fam- 

 ily physician — is best known. He who 

 enters into the practise of medicine may 

 look forward to a moderate income meas- 

 ured by the standards of modern business 

 and a life that will bring him into a pecul- 

 iarly intimate, serviceable relation with 

 his fellow men. Probably in no other call- 

 ing is there such an intermingling of work 

 for wage and work that brings its blessings 

 to others, and in this lies the peculiar 

 charm of the practise of medicine. The 

 physician's advice not only is sought in 

 matters of health and disease, but gradu- 

 ally he grows to be family councillor too, 

 the recipient of family secrets and a sharer 

 in family joys. In many communities the 

 physician is an important figure in all that 

 pertains to the activities of the place, often 

 filling positions of responsibility, a man 

 honored, loved and respected by his fel- 

 lows. Freely he gives of his time, his mind 

 and his love; but equally great is the re- 

 ward which he reaps in the gratitude of his 

 patients and in the satisfaction of knowing 

 that within his limitations he has richly 

 given of the talents vouchsafed him. 

 Many are his opportunities for doing good 

 to his fellow men, nobly does he respond to 

 these calls. The charity of the rank and 

 file of the medical profession throughout 

 this broad land of ours is one of the glories 

 of medicine. So to engage in the practise 

 of medicine offers you many opportunities 

 to do good and at the same time this work 

 will furnish you a living income, gained 

 soonest in the smaller places, while in the 

 large cities there are opportunities for ob- 

 taining incomes of even large size, but it 

 must be realized that in the large city, 

 though there are great prizes to be won by 

 a few, there are many who will fail in the 



