804 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1145 



Michigan practically gives you your edu- 

 cation. Why does it do this and what does 

 it demand of you in return for this great 

 gift? It expects that you possess intelli- 

 gence, for without this the gift is valueless ; 

 that you manifest industry both during 

 and after your student life, for without this 

 you bury your talent ; that in all your ac- 

 tions, both professional and nonprofes- 

 sional, you show the most sincere integrity, 

 for without this you become a menace to 

 your benefactor. The state has selected 

 this faculty to ascertain to what extent each 

 of you possesses these essential qualifica- 

 tions and I can assure you that those found 

 wanting will not find their way into the 

 profession through these doors. To those 

 who prove worthy, every reasonable en- 

 couragement and proper assistance will be 

 given. 



I am sometimes asked what financial re- 

 ward can the medical man reasonably ex- 

 pect? This is a proper question and I am 

 ready to give it my answer. In the first 

 place, a medical education, even with the 

 relatively small tuition one pays in a state 

 university, is the most expensive profes- 

 sional education, both in time and money, 

 both to the state and to the student. 



The laboratory expenses of the medical 

 student are higher than those in any other 

 school. Where other students buy books, 

 he buys not only more expensive books, but 

 he must also purchase a microscope, blood 

 counter, and other expensive instruments. 

 After graduation most medical students 

 spend from one to three years in hospital 

 work and at least one of these promises soon 

 to become obligatory on all. When he be- 

 gins practise the medical man must have a 

 respectable office and a well-equipped lab- 

 oratory. He must continue to buy expen- 

 sive books, for the average medical book is 

 out of date almost as soon as it leaves the 

 press, so rapid has been the advance in sci- 



entific medicine in the past thirty years. 

 He can not do without the best professional 

 journals, and, being a member of a learned 

 profession, he is ashamed to be ignorant of 

 the best general literature. In his consult- 

 ing room, his visits to the homes of his pa- 

 tient and in his association with his fellows 

 he must be neatly, though he need not be 

 expensively, dressed. He must supply him- 

 self with means for quick and comfortable 

 travel. Without going into further partic- 

 ulars I may say that by the time he is 

 ready to begin his professional work the 

 most economical medical man has already 

 made an investment of from ten to twenty 

 thousand dollars, counting his actual ex- 

 penses, allowing a fair amount for his time 

 and calculating the interest on these 

 amounts, and when he begins he must 

 have the wherewithal to make his work suc- 

 cessful. No medical man can neglect the 

 financial side of his life's work. Without 

 an adequate income he can not reach a high 

 degree of efficiency in his work. However, 

 the medical man who is imbued with the 

 right spirit will use his financial gains 

 largely in increasing his professional effi- 

 ciency. After setting aside enough for the 

 fair support of himself and those depend- 

 ent upon him, he will devote the surplus 

 — and there must be a surplus if he is to be 

 successful — to better equipment, both phys- 

 ically and mentally. It has been my ob- 

 servation that the more intelligent laity 

 respects the physician who endeavors to 

 keep himself well posted and well equipped 

 in his professional work. Medical men who 

 attend their local, state and national so- 

 cieties are, as a rule, successful financially, 

 while those who think that they can not 

 leave their work even for self-improvement 

 have a hard time in making ends meet. 

 One who wishes to accumulate a fortune, or 

 to become wealthy as that term is now 

 understood, should choose some other call- 



