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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVI. No. 935 



5. Rush Medical College. Elective 

 courses are given in all four years. The 

 quarter system in vogue in this school is so 

 essentially elective and gives such great 

 latitude in the whole school career that it 

 is useless to try to give any adequate no- 

 tion of how much time a man may be per- 

 mitted to spend on research. 



The letter of Dr. H. Gideon "Wells ex- 

 presses the situation excellently. 



We have always laid the greatest stress on re- 

 search work by undergraduate students in the 

 medical courses. This is not a new thing, but 

 dates back to 1895. Since that time there have 

 always been several undergraduate students en- 

 gaged in research, at first chiefly in the depart- 

 ment of pathology, but since the university took 

 up medical work eleven years ago, in all depart- 

 ments. We not only permit research by our stu- 

 dents but encourage it in every way possible. We 

 even send notices to the colleges throughout the 

 country from which our students come that we 

 offer prizes for undergraduate research work, and 

 I enclose a copy of the same. I am pleased to 

 announce that negotiations are now under way 

 whereby an additional cash prize of $200 will 

 be awarded annually for undergraduate research 

 in pathology or bacteriology. 



We do not excuse research men from any of the 

 ordinary courses, but we do not stuff our cur- 

 riculum so hopelessly full of required work that 

 capable and energetic young men can not find time 

 for original investigations, and commencing next 

 year one quarter is left entirely open for elective 

 work. Our quarter system permits of much elas- 

 ticity in the curriculum, and a man with the 

 research spirit is usually willing to put in extra 

 quarters at work, the university being open all 

 year. Most of the best men in our first two years 

 do research work or assist in it, and a considerable 

 proportion spend from one to three years extra 

 time between the second and third years of the 

 medical courses, in working for a master's or 

 doctor 's degree. I always have a class of from six 

 to ten men who are candidates for the degree of 

 Ph.D., taking either their major or minor in 

 pathology. The men who do the work either re- 

 quest the privilege or are selected by the depart- 

 ments, most of them receiving aid in the form of 

 fellowships or scholarships from the university. 



6. Tulane University. Dealt with on 

 page 54. 



7. University of Virginia. Here we 

 find that 



opportunities are offered in the fourth year for 

 more extended training in certain subjects with a 

 view towards possible specialization after gradu- 

 ation. (Catalogue University of Virginia, 1911- 

 12, p. 199.) 



These opportunities are given in physiol- 

 ogy, pathology and bacteriology, and mean 

 six hours a week for half a year. Four 

 students only may be taken in physiology. 



An extract from the note of Dr. R. H. 

 Whitehead is as follows: 



Our curriculum is planned for the ' ' average 

 man," and it keeps such a man quite busy; he 

 can hardly do anything else to advantage. But 

 the exceptional man can often undertake some line 

 of investigation with results that are distinctly 

 beneficial to him and creditable to the school. 



8. Washington University. Elective 

 courses are given through the four years. 

 Specially qualified students are permitted, 

 at the discretion of the heads of the de- 

 partments involved, to take up original re- 

 search instead of these electives. They can 

 obtain units for graduation by means of 

 such work. 



9. Tale University. Elective courses 

 are given in all four years. The require- 

 ment of a thesis for graduation necessi- 

 tates a certain amount of open time 

 through the course and men may make 

 original work the basis of the thesis. 



Schools permitting research and giving 

 no visible time for it are as follows : 



1. Albany Medical College. 



2. University and Bellevue Hospital and 



Medical College. 



3. University of Cincinnati. 



4. Columbia University. 



5. University of Minnesota. 



6. Northwestern University. 



7. Western Eeserve University. 



Of these schools Columbia, Minnesota, 

 Northwestern and Western Reserve meet 



