748 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIX. No. 1012 



ing of at least 96 semester hours of work here, 

 with a total of 128 hours for graduation; also the 

 completion of the necessary major and minor re- 

 quirements in any of the courses laid out in our 

 catalogue. If these conditions be satisfied, we will 

 give a Bachelor's degree to students in combina- 

 tion course after one year's work in an A Plus 

 Medical School. 



I proceed now to answer your second letter con- 

 taining the course of study proposed by Professor 

 Holmes, of Earlham College. 



I may say at the outset that our faculty is 

 heartily in sympathy with Professor Holmes's 

 ideas and believes that the establishment of a defi- 

 nite premedical course with a list of approved 

 premedical colleges would be of extreme value. 



As stated in answer to your first letter, we are 

 perfectly willing to adopt combination courses 

 giving a college degree after three years spent 

 with us and one year in an A plus medical school, 

 provided that the student has three years of resi- 

 dence in . . .; passes 96 hours of work here and 

 a total of 128 hours for graduation and provided 

 also that he fulfills the major and minor require- 

 ments of one of our regular courses. We already 

 have made such an arrangement with the Western 

 Reserve Medical School. 



Our faculty begs to signify its approval of a 

 three-year schedule as submitted by Professor 

 Holmes with the following suggestions: That the 

 various colleges be allowed a certain latitude as 

 to the year in which certain subjects are given. 

 Our courses in physics, for instance, axe not open 

 to freshmen and could not be taken in the first 

 year. Possibly a general statement of require- 

 ments in each subject would meet more general 

 approval than a definitely laid out program year 

 by year and would allow various colleges a little 

 more latitude in arranging courses. Our faculty 

 is also unanimous in its feeling that at least 103 

 semester hours of psychology should be required 

 in every premedical course, since this subject is 

 practically indispensable to a well-equipped med- 

 ical man of to-day. 



With the above suggestions, we are heartily in 

 agreement with the proposed plan and are willing 

 to adopt it should it receive the sanction of the 

 American Medical Association. 



In this letter the quality of teaching in the 

 secondary schools is mentioned. This I shall 

 comment upon later. I wish, however, at this 

 point to emphasize the method suggested for 

 improving the teaching ability and therefore 



the quality of the teaching in secondary 

 schools. The question of psychology is also 

 touched upon. Certainly a course in psychol- 

 ogy should be a prerequisite for graduation in 

 medicine. Without it there is little value in 

 courses on mental diseases, but any introduc- 

 tory course should be supplemented later by a 

 brief course in experimental psychology, and, 

 for those who desire to go more deeply into 

 psychiatry, a thorough course should be 

 offered. 



Among the letters which have been re- 

 ceived, there are two from deans which deserve 

 quoting. The iirst begins with an outline of 

 the work offered for the degree B.S. It then 

 says : 



We have had one case gi'anted the privilege of 

 being absent during the senior year, counting th« 

 work of the medical college as equivalent to our 

 senior work. It did not appeal to us very strongly 

 for several reasons. First, the difficulty of getting 

 the reports of standing at proper times and con- 

 trolling thesis work. This, of course, was a minor 

 difficulty, but none the less annoying. Second, was 

 the fact that high-grade students are not as a rule 

 interested in such a scheme. With us it has ap- 

 parently applied to an unstable group of students, 

 restless under university restrictions and appaj- 

 ently constitutionally unable to remain in any in- 

 stitution for more than a year or two. Such men 

 are neither good representatives of the college 

 from which they go nor desirable candidates for 

 the medical college in which they matriculate. 



May I suggest another possible solutionf Sup- 

 pose we realize that four years is not a divinely 

 appointed length of time for either baccalaureate 

 or medical degree. Suppose we recognize the fast 

 that the degree represents a definite amount of 

 work satisfactorily done. Suppose that we also 

 allow men of sufficient mental strength, industry 

 and eagerness to do the work in three years, either 

 in the college or in the medical school. If this 

 were done, would not the same, if not a better, 

 result be reached? Certainly high-grade men 

 would be rewarded for their ability and industry 

 and a short cut to two degrees would not be of- 

 fered to all sorts of candidates. Whether in uni- 

 versity or in medical college there seems no good 

 reason why a man should not have one or two 

 ways of obtaining credit, either by taking the 

 subject or by examination. 



