Mat 8, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



669 



tion. The doetor-in-practise works eleven 

 months or more. Why should the doctor- 

 in-making work only eight or nine? Some 

 students may need the long vacation for 

 health 's sake ; others may need it for finan- 

 cial reasons. But some would be better off 

 without the long interruption of their stud- 

 ies. Moreover, important elements of econ- 

 omy argue for the continuous session and a 

 curriculum adapted thereto. Our expen- 

 sive equipments stand idle one third of the 

 time. Our hospitals and dispensaries go on 

 the year around and are unused for teach- 

 ing for several months. This would be poor 

 practise in any line of business. For our 

 northern schools, at least, the University of 

 Chicago idea with its four quarters and its 

 liberal curriculum, appeals to me as emi- 

 nently wise. The next best thing is a strong 

 summer term for which credit^ is given on 

 the regular course. 



Tour professors may say that they can 

 not teach the year around. Well and good. 

 They ought not to. While some of the older 

 men should be "on the job" during the 

 summer and may arrange their vacations at 

 some other season, on the whole the sum- 

 mer quarter or term is a good time to give 

 the younger men a chance. Let them con- 

 duct courses given at other times by full 

 professors. A repetition of courses, at least 

 in certain subjects, has advantages and is 

 essential if a really elastic curriculum is to 

 be developed. 



CURRICULUM MAKING FROM THE SIDE OF THE 

 TEACHER 



I have gradually swung this discussion 

 over from the side of the student to that of 

 the teacher. Several principles of curric- 

 ulum making may be formulated from the 

 side of the faculty. 



6 The distinetdon between subject credit and time 

 credit is not sufficiently recognized hj medical edu- 

 cators. It is only time credit which is restricted 

 by the state medical laws. 



THE DEVELOPMENT OP TEACHERS 



One of these principles is the develop- 

 ment of the teacher. The rigid curriculum 

 works but little for this cause. A professor 

 of principles of surgery, for example, lec- 

 tures year after year on that subject. For 

 years perhaps the same manuscript is read 

 to the classes. There is no incentive for a 

 younger man to prepare himself. Finally, 

 the old professor drops away, and a new 

 and untried man must take his place. An 

 elastic curriculum with repetition of the 

 course under various instructors means the 

 opportunity for the development of new 

 men all the time. The prepared man is 

 ready for the advanced position. 



PRINCIPLE OF COMPETITION 



The principle of competition is as im- 

 portant for efficient teaching as for any 

 other trade or business. The rigid curricu- 

 lum tends to develop a trust in teaching, 

 with the usual bad characteristics of trusts. 

 The elective system by giving the student a 

 choice among several men furnishes each 

 teacher with incentives to bring his work 

 to the highest state of efSciency. The ex- 

 perience of Rush Medical College in this re- 

 gard has been very instructive. 



It might be thought that students would 

 abuse this privilege of electing their in- 

 structors and that the easiest teacher would 

 be most popular. That has not been the 

 case. The students can be trusted to go 

 where they get what they consider the best 

 for themselves. Their judgment, on the 

 whole, can be trusted. A general rule re- 

 quiring approval of eleetives by the dean or 

 a committee is a sufScient safeguard against 

 the few who might search for "snap" 

 courses. 



The elective system tends to make a 

 larger number of men available and useful 

 as instructors and a larger number of hos- 

 pitals available and usable for clinical in- 



