600 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVI. No. 670 



ber, 1907. The first number was dated Feb- 

 ruary, 1866, and was published by the late Mr. 

 G. J. Symons. Meteorologists the world over 

 will unite in congi-atulating Dr. H. E. Mill 

 upon the appearance of No. 500 of this unique 

 magazine, and in wishing him continued suc- 

 cess in carrying on his important work for 

 British meteorology. 



E. DeC. Ward 

 Haevabd Univeesitt 



THE NEW PHILIPPINE MEDICAL SCHOOL 



ESTABLISHED BY THE GOVERNMENT 



OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



The second annual meeting of the Philip- 

 pine Islands Medical Association was held in 

 Manila during the early months of 1905, and 

 in the course of the discussions the fact was 

 brought out that the Philippine archipelago 

 has an average of only one physician to every 

 21,209 of the population, or one to every 430 

 square miles of territory. The association 

 conseqiiently deemed it its duty to bring this 

 matter forcibly to the attention of the govern- 

 ment and to request that some action be taken 

 looking towards the establishment of a perma- 

 nent and modern medical school in the Philip- 

 pine Islands. The conditions for the success 

 of such a school were very auspicious, as the 

 Bureau of Science and the Bureau of Health 

 would be able to furnish a number of trained 

 men to take part in the teaching. 



As a result of this agitation and also as an 

 expression of an ideal which for some time 

 had been in the minds of the secretary of the 

 interior and of the various directors and mem- 

 bers of the large scientific institutions in the 

 Philippines, the United States Philippine 

 Commission on December 1, 1905, passed an 

 act establishing a medical school in the Philip- 

 pine islands, placing it in charge of a board 

 of control which consists of the secretary of 

 public instruction, the secretary of the interior, 

 one other member of the Philippine Commis- 

 sion and a member to be designated by the 

 governor-general. The dean of the faculty of 

 the school after its establishment also became 

 a member of the board of control. The school 

 is to form a department of the future Philip- 

 pine University. 



The actual work of organization was not 

 undertaken until more than a year after this, 

 one reason for the delay being that other sci- 

 entific undertakings were in the course of 

 active growth, and the other because much 

 time was necessary to perfect the actual work- 

 ing plans. However, a faculty was finally ap- 

 pointed, including the chairs of chemistry, 

 clinical medicine, tropical medicine, surgery, 

 hygiene, pathology and bacteriology, pedia- 

 trics and obstetrics, with associate professors 

 in several of the branches and with assistant 

 professors in charge of anatomy, pharma- 

 cology, and physiology. The full professor- 

 ships of the latter three chairs were left open 

 because it was realized that the three assistants 

 would need to be called from the United 

 States, and it was desired to leave the higher 

 positions open so as to give more opportunity 

 for advancement to the right men. About one 

 third of the faculty consists of natives of the 

 islands, the other two thirds being either gov- 

 ernment employees or American physicians or 

 surgeons engaged in hospital practise in 

 Manila. 



The most serious subjects to consider in 

 planning the work for the first year were the 

 nature of the entrance examinations to be re- 

 quired, the number of years of study and the 

 feasibility of admitting students to advanced 

 classes who were either graduates of the 

 present medical school of the University of 

 Santo Tomas or who had taken one or more 

 years of medical study therein. These ques- 

 tions present different phases than they do in 

 the United States, as in America there already 

 are a sufBcient number of medical schools of 

 good standing, and no communities are ac- 

 tually suffering from lack of medical attend- 

 ance; whereas in these islands we must en- 

 deavor to furnish reasonably well educated 

 physicians as soon as possible, so that the duty 

 of the faculty is not only to elevate the grade 

 of medical instruction in the Philippine 

 Islands, but also as rapidly as may be feasible 

 to fit with at least a fair knowledge of medi- 

 cine young men who should be able to take 

 their places in the provinces where no medical 

 attendance whatsoever is now possible. A 



