September 26, 1919] 



SCIENCE 



309 



Society, an vindergraduate society at the Uni- 

 versity of Pennsylvania, conducted a canvass 

 of representative medical schools of the United 

 States on the subject of undergraduate re- 

 search. The attempt was made to determine 

 the condition of undergraduate research, how 

 the time for it was obtained, and what means 

 (if any) were taken to encourage students to 

 do this type of work. A somewhat similar 

 canvass, conducted by Dr. C. K. Drinker in 

 1912,^ permitted a comparison of the oppor- 

 tunities for undergraduate research in 1912 

 and at present. 



The following letter was therefore sent to 

 twenty-five medical schools : 



Dean op the Medical Department. 



Dear Sir: The 'William Pepper Medical Society 

 (undergraduate) of the University of Pennsyl- 

 vania desires to investigate the conditions under 

 which undergraduate research work is being car- 

 ried on in the principal medical schools of America. 

 The society believes that a knowledge of the 

 methods of scientific research is of great value, 

 and that greater opportunity to acquire this knowl- 

 edge should be afforded to students who are in- 

 terested. 



We would request the favor of a reply upon the 

 following questions, and hope that you will add 

 any suggestions or comments that you would care 

 to make. The committee would thank you for 

 your trouble in the matter. 



Very truly yours, 

 (signed) Joseph Stokes, Jr., 

 Ltle B. West, 

 Isaac Starr, Jr., 



Chairman, 

 Committee on Undergraduate Besearoh 



1. Do you allow undergraduates to undertake 

 research in conjunction with their regular work? 



2. Are any means taken by your faculty to en- 

 courage undergraduate research? If so, what 

 means? 



3. Approximately how many (and what per 

 cent.) of your graduating classes have undertaken 

 some research problem, under instruction of the 

 faculty, during their regular course of study? 



4. Does your curriculum permit a student to 

 substitute time spent on research, under direction 

 of a member of the faculty, for hours in the reg- 

 ular course, required or elective? 



1 Science, N. S., Vol. XXXVI., No. 93.5, pp. 

 729-738, November 29, 1912. 



5. Do you believe that undergraduate research 

 is justified by its educational value to the stu- 

 dent? 



The following tabulations were compiled 

 from the replies of the deans of the institu- 

 tions quoted except in the case of Johns 

 Hopkins. As the dean of Johns Hopkins 

 failed to respond, the attitude of that insti- 

 tution was ascertained from the catalogue and 

 from conversations with undergraduates and 

 therefore can not be regarded as entirely an 

 official statement of that school. 



By the answers to the first question we find 

 that an overwhelming proportion of medical 

 schools permit undergraduates to undertake 

 research in conjunction with their regular 

 work. Twenty schools allow this, two are 

 doubtful (one of which gives only the first 

 two years of the course) and only two forbid 

 it. In 1912 seventeen schools permitted this, 

 while eight opposed it. The opposition has 

 shrimk from 32 per cent, to 9 per cent, in the 

 last seven years. 



Those permitting undergraduate research : 

 California, Cornell, Colorado, Harvard, Illi- 

 nois, Johns Hopkins, Leland Stanford, Mc- 

 Gill, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ore- 

 gon, Hush, Texas, Tulane, Virginia, Washing- 

 ton (St Louis), "Western Reserve, Wisconsin, 

 Tale. Those opposed: Maryland, Geo. Wash- 

 ington (D.C.). Doubtful: Physicians and 

 Surgeons (Columbia), North Carolina. 



The following comment on question No. 1 

 was received: 



Harvard — "Research is especially urged in cer- 

 tain departments." But, "There is a certain 

 amount of opposition since men doing research at 

 times neglect their other studies." (Letter of 

 Assistant Dean Hale.) 



In our experience the raen who are inter- 

 ested in research have always stood well in 

 their class. That this is also the experience 

 of many medical schools is evidenced by their 

 regarding the researcher as a " marked man." 

 Any tendency to neglect other subjects for 

 research could be easily controlled by requir- 

 ing the student to maintain a general average 

 somewhat above the passing mark while 

 undertaking his research problem. 



